Dreamland Reminiscing
by xxNight Angelxx
Summary: Ginny Weasley is set to marry Dean Thomas, a man who has been less than faithful but on the night before her wedding Ginny dreams memories she's been trying to forget about. Memories of the past few months. DMGW
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** If I owned it I'd be writing Book 7, not spending my time writing fan fiction, as fun as it is.

**A/N: **As the prologue this is only short, other chapter will be much longer. It's set a few years after Hogwarts graduation, Voldie's been defeated and, since I never write present characters, they will more than likely be out of character so we're going to say this is very AU. Ah well, I think it'll be good…Let's get on with it…

* * *

My green eyes surveyed the crowded building tiredly. I was exhausted both physically and emotionally and still my friends had brought me here. My last night of freedom was to be spent in this hellhole of a place with half-dressed strangers and too-drunk-to-care friends. It was dark and head-splittingly loud and the heat was far too great for my tastes. I'm a girl with simple pleasures and even simpler needs. If I'd had a say in this night we would have had a quiet night in with a few bottles of something but as my friends had said – I hadn't been out in a while and this was my last chance to do so before needing permission. 

Taking another sip of my drink I was reminded why I hadn't gone out for a few months. Last time I had a night out, I returned home to find my boyfriend in a rather compromising position with my secretary. It had taken my alcohol-clouded mind a long while to realise I'd caught them both naked in my bed, their clothes scattered everywhere. I shuddered, just the thought of it made me take another mouthful of my drink.

We tried to give it another go when it had happened but the trust had been broken and I just couldn't get past it. So why then were we getting married the next day? Especially after what I'd gone through in the past few months.

"Hey, Curls, I'm talking to you!"

I scowled at my so-called friend; the once bushy-haired brunette who was now my brothers wife.

"Mi, don't call me that," I whined like a child.

The excited laughter of my drunken friend made me scowl a little more.

"What's up with you?" the excited voice came once again. "You're supposed to be happy," she emphasised the 'y', dragging it out a little. "You're getting married in the mooorning."

"Yeah," I knew I sounded distracted and not at all excited.

"What's wrong Curls?" she asked in concern.

I shrugged and stood up, putting my coat on as I prepared to leave.

"I don't know, Mi. Maybe I'm just tired; I'm going to go home before I get too wrecked. Don't want me looking half-dead on my photos now, do we? See you first thing." I laughed before downing the last of my drink.

I bid goodbye to my friends and apparated home from the club bathrooms. I did the usual pre-sleep routine before taking off the little jewellery I was wearing. It was as I was putting it away that my hands instinctively moved for another piece; a simple silver chain with a star hanging from it. I read the inscription on the back, though I knew it by heart by then anyway, feeling the familiar mix of feelings that she associated with such a simple decorative object. Excitement, nervousness, fear, sorrow, love, it was all there with the memories that stung at my heart.

I blinked back tears as I clasped the necklace around my neck, feeling calm spreading through me instantly. Before I fell asleep to dream the memories my subconscious was forcing me to remember when all I wanted was to forget them, the inscription came to me once more:

_The choice is yours, Ginny. I'll always be here for you. Draco x_


	2. Dean's Deception

**Disclaimer:** If I owned it I'd be writing Book 7, not spending my time writing fan fiction, as fun as it is.

* * *

Ginny Weasley woke up to an empty bed and sighed. Dean was obviously still upset then, 'Fantastic,' she thought sarcastically as she began to sit up.

"Dean?" She called softly. "Dean, you there?"

She could hear quiet mumbling and the clattering of somebody in the bathroom so got up and headed in there, not caring that she was only wearing her underwear, Dean had seen it all before anyway. "Hey," she leaned on the doorframe, arms folded across her chest. Dean looked over at her and scowled immediately.

"Are you trying to wind me up?" He snapped at Ginny angrily.

"Huh?" she blinked, confused.

"Reminding me about last night," he spat looking over her distastefully.

"Oh," her mouth opened in recognition and she moved closer to him. She stood behind him, wrapped her arms around his neck and put her head on his shoulder. "I'm not…There's nothing to be ashamed of, it happens to everyone," Ginny consoled.

"Not to me," he declared, shrugging her off violently. "Go and get dressed and stop teasing me."

Feeling hurt and dejected, Ginny went and dressed as instructed, though not because Dean had told her to. She had work to go to among other things planned for the day and she didn't much feel like putting up with Dean's bad mood and making it put a dampener on what she hoped would be an otherwise good day. She was dressed and was halfway through her breakfast when Dean came in to grab the toast she'd prepared for him.

"Are you working tonight?" She questioned before he left.

"I don't know, I hope not but either way I won't finish until six at the earliest."

"Alright," Ginny nodded. "Hermione's asked me out for drinks after work. Send me an owl to let me know because we might make a night of it if you're working late."

"Yeah," Dean growled before disapparating out of their flat.

Ginny sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, as much as she loved Dean she couldn't help but despair at his childish behaviour sometimes.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

During her lunch hour Ginny sat in the third floor staff canteen of the Ministry talking to a few of her colleagues. A large beefy man was telling an amusing story about his youngest son but Ginny was only half-listening. Her mind was wandering to the night before and Dean's anger that morning. It took a few minutes for the mail carrier to get her attention.

"Miss Weasley, a letter arrived from Mr Thomas. It has been checked over and can now be given to you. Here you go," he handed out the letter for her, which she took eagerly.

"Thanks Nick but how many times do I have to tell you to call me Ginny, everyone else does."

Nick shook his head, "Always Miss Weasley, miss. Propriety must be kept during working hours."

Ginny smiled and laughed, "You're a good man, Nick, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Thanks for this."

"Always a pleasure, miss," and he scuttled off to give someone else their mail.

Ginny opened the letter and read the letter, pulling a face and screwing it up, throwing it away when she left the canteen.

"Nothing interesting then?" The beefy man observed curiously.

Ginny shrugged, "Just Dean letting me know he's going to be working late and won't be back until gone eleven."

"Wow," the beefy man looked impressed. "Not even married and you've already got the poor guy on a leash. You want to watch out for that, he's going to find some way for an outlet of the control if you're not careful."

Ginny glared at the man, "Thanks for that, Damien. I'll be sure to keep it in mind," she said coldly as she stood up. "See you all later."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

That evening Ginny Weasley was sat at the table in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron, and she wasn't alone. Her best friend, and brothers wife, Hermione Weasley sat at the table with her, an empty bottle of wine discarded at her side. Their wine glasses stood forgotten at a corner of the table, along with several empty glasses and the full shot glasses before the two giggling girls. Around lunch time Ginny had received an owl from Dean informing her he would be working late and likely wouldn't be back until after eleven. It had cemented Ginny's decision to go out for the whole night rather than spend one in alone.

"Honestly Gin, what would Dean say if he knew you were telling me stuff like that?" Hermione squealed with laughter, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I don't think he'd comment," Ginny answered pompously. "He'd be too embarrassed to say anything about it. Guys don't like to talk about their inadequacies, do they?"

Hermione thought about it, "I guess you're right, I doubt Ron would be willing to share stuff like that either."

Ginny nodded into her drink tiredly. "Speaking of my darling brother, how is he?"

"Well," Hermione answered with a sly grin. "He's able to perform better than your boyfriend at the moment."

Had Dean been there then there would than likely have been shouting at that moment but since it was two gossiping best friends who'd consumed a large amount of alcohol, giggling erupted at the table once more. "Mi, I didn't need to hear that!" Ginny squealed. By now they were attracting lots of attention from other patrons of the pub but they didn't seem to notice.

They spent the next couple of hours drinking some more and getting hit on by a few equally drunk but not as attractive guys.

"You girls look like your having a lot of fun," a suave voice commented from behind them. "Bet I could give you a real good time, though."

Already biting her lip to save from bursting into laughter there and then, Ginny turned around and had to bite down even harder for the man who was currently hitting on them, aside from using the cheesiest pick-up lines ever, was the oddest person ever. With grey eyes and skin paler than even Ginny's was, this man was tall and thin, gangly even, but with broad shoulders and ginger hair that could rival Snape's for greasiness.

"No, thanks," Ginny giggled. "We're quite happy together, aren't we Mi?" she continued, taking Hermione's hand in her own and giving it a slight rub.

"Oh, yes," Hermione agreed fervently.

The man watched the two of them in shock before a smirk crossed his face.

"I don't mind," he said sounding much like a sleazy old man. "It's always been a fantasy of mine to have les–"

"Well," Ginny cut him off. "You're going to have to wait to fulfil that fantasy because we're not helping, run along now."

The man scowled at the two before walking away, muttering something about 'bloody lesbians'.

Hermione giggled, "I can't believe you just did that!"

"What?" Ginny asked innocently. "You took part, too."

Hermione shook her head in amusement but said nothing more on the matter. Around ten thirty they gave up for the night and, being in no fit state to apparate, flooed to their respective homes after bidding each other, and just about everyone else in the pub, goodnight. Ginny had no idea what had happened to Hermione when she got home, but for Ginny what had happened to her was enough for her to forget Hermione was even with her.

When she stepped out of the fireplace she did so to the realisation that there was music playing in her flat. Soft, gentle music, the kind Ginny put on when she went in the bath or for a romantic night in with Dean. She stumbled gracelessly across her flat walking into furniture without a moment's hesitation, her senses numbed by the alcohol. She staggered into her bedroom and flicked the light switch, "Baby, I'm back."

"Shit!" Dean cried and there was lots of stumbling and fumbling before he stood upright without even bothering to cover himself up.

Ginny stared at him blankly for a few moments before turning her head towards the bed. Sat up with the covers bunched up around her to cover what little was left of her modesty was Dean's perky blonde secretary. Had the situation not been so horrible for Ginny to witness she might have burst out laughing. Instead tears began to tickle at her eyes.

"D…Dean, what's…what's going on?" Ginny stammered. She could see what was happening but her mind just couldn't seem to comprehend to make the thoughts an actuality.

"Ginny…" Dean began but faltered. "Gin…I know how this looks but…"

It seemed to click in Ginny's mind all at once and the tears she'd been storing shed all at once. "But what?" She cried, "You're not really screwing your secretary in our bed, you're both just looking for something…naked?"

"Gin…don't do this."

"Don't what? Be upset? Shout? Cry? Show any emotion at all?"

"Don't…I don't know Gin but please, don't shout. It was a stupid thing to do."

"Damn right it was," Ginny snapped, swivelling her head to look at the blonde who was beginning to move to collect her clothes. "And you!" She cried, eyes blazing at the woman who looked like she was just out of Hogwarts. "What the hell kind of world do you live in where it's okay to sleep with your boss? Especially one who's engaged!"

"I didn't know…" the girl stuttered. "He has no ring and he never said."

"That doesn't make it right," Ginny blazed. "And it doesn't…" She whirled round to face Dean once more. "You didn't tell her?" Her voice raised a few decibels in pitch. "You didn't tell her? I can't believe you would do this again, not after last time…"

"Gin…"

"Stop it!" Ginny screamed. "I've had enough Dean, you've lost your chance." She disapparated from her flat leaving the other two to their own devices.

She was lucky, in the state she was in, not to have splinched herself whilst apparating, especially when, too drunk and upset to concentrate, she'd had no destination in mind. She ended up in the middle of a field in what she was sure was the middle of nowhere, all her body parts present and accounted for in their correct places. She just sat in the middle of the field and sobbed until her eyes were sore and she could no longer feel the damp grass beneath her legs.

Hurt, weary and beginning to get a headache, Ginny picked a direction in the hope of finding out where she was. She could have apparated again but she didn't dare risk it again and besides, where would she go? She could go to the Burrow but she'd no doubt have to answer questions from her parents, the same if she went to Ron and Hermione's, or any of her brothers' houses for that matter and she didn't much feel like reliving the scene just yet. Her friends would have taken her in but it was late and she didn't want to wake them as would be inevitable. There was also the option of going back home but really that wasn't an option she wanted to consider. For now she was going to stick to a do-as-happens plan, and at that minute it meant finding out where she was.

She walked and walked and walked for what felt like years but it really took no more than fifteen minutes for her to get off the field and find the nearest sign post.

"Malstone," she read by the light of her wand, nearly dropping it in shock. "And I thought this day couldn't get any worse," she muttered as she backed away from the sign hastily. Retreating the way she came. She stopped when a cold voice spoke up from the dark shadows; "Going somewhere?"


	3. Meeting Malfoy

**A/N: **All those hits and only 3 reviews? Come on people, humour me here, I want to know what you think; good or bad. Thanks to those who have reviewed me though, love you!  
Sorry for the delay, I had a lot of trouble with my flash drive, as in; I broke the connection inside it and had to buy a new one. But I like my new one; it's mini and cute and doesn't look like it should store 1GB of work! And I know it's short but I'm gonna get longer, trust me.  
This chapter is a special dedication to the Kei since she's the one who got me hooked on these in the first place.  
Oh yeah, and it's flipping cold!

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Ginny spun around at the voice but could see no one. "Malfoy, if that's you stop being a prat and show yourself." Her voice was stronger than she felt at that moment, as tired, upset and hurting as she was, she couldn't let that show to Draco Malfoy of all people. 

Sure enough someone stepped out of the shadows. Cold grey eyes and silver-blonde hair, the man before her was taller than she remembered but there was no doubt in her mind that this was the man she thought it was. Especially when the trademark smirk appeared on his face.

"Is that a Weasley on my land? Granted the robes aren't as shabby as one would expect but the red hair gives it away. What are you doing here?"

"Leaving," Ginny informed him before turning back, intending to walk away.

"Wait a second, this is my land, and no one just leaves my land without telling me what they were doing here."

"Malfoy," she said slowly, looking at him, her eyes trained on his, "I'm having the night from hell and believe me when I say this is the last place I want to be right now. So if you'd let me be just this once and let me go, that'd be great."

Towards the end of speaking Ginny's voice began to crack and she once again tried to leave. This time though a strong arm gripped her elbow and pulled her back.

"Malfoy let me go or Merlin help you…"

"What are you going to do?" he teased. "Bat bogey hex me again? We're long past our Hogwarts days, Weaselette."

"Actually," she spat out. "I was thinking I might break that perfectly straight nose of yours."

"Don't you dare," he warned, sounding terrified at the idea.

Ginny smirked, "Let me go then."

He did as he was told and released her. She turned, the moonlight shone on the tear tracks streaming her face and the tears in her eyes glistened.

"Gin…" Malfoy's voice suddenly seemed concerned. "Have you been crying?"

"No," she responded a little too quickly and wiped frantically at her eyes.

"Don't lie to me," he advised with an edge in his tone.

"Draco, please…Let's not do this. I came here by accident and now I just want to leave."

"Tough, you can't apparate off these grounds s you're stuck here until you tell me what the matter is."

"It's none of your business," she wiped furiously at fresh tears that threatened to spill.

"Like Hell it's not," Malfoy spat, eyes blazing. "You show up in my garden at midnight in tears and obviously upset and it's none of my business?"

"No, it's not," Ginny's cold demeanour was fast evaporating the longer she spoke. She really needed to get away. "I might not be able to disapparate bit I can call the Knight Bus." She stuck out her wand arm.

"Weasley, what are you…No, don't you –" Malfoy's words were cut off as the triple-decker purple bus pulled up before them.

"Hi, I'm David Dipworth and welcome –" The conductor began.

"Dare," Malfoy finished sounding loud and harsh, making the young man stop.

David looked between the two; he saw Malfoy's face red with anger clutching on to Ginny whose face was puffy and tear-stained. "I'll just wait until you two are finished," he muttered, not wanting to interrupt the scene before him.

"No need, we're done," Ginny sniffed, yanking her arm from Malfoy's grip and stepping past David onto the bus.

The doors closed and the Bus set off, Ginny took a seat and a few deep calming breaths, not once did she look back in the direction she had came.

"Lovers tiff?" David questioned her after a few moments.

"Not with Malfoy," she sounded positively repulsed by the idea and opened her mouth to say more but all that came out was a heartfelt sob.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The Knight Bus took her to the Leaky Cauldron where she spent what remained of the night. She didn't get much sleep that night, her thoughts plagued with visions of Dean and _that woman_ together. The only good thing that came from her sleepless night was the mental exhaustion that left her without the strength to cry. Around ten in the morning she found herself apparating to the same field she had the night before. In the daylight she could clearly make out Malfoy Manor in the distance. She rolled her eyes. She really didn't need it right now. She tried to disapparate but kept getting blocked by an invisible barrier. After twenty-something failed attempts, Ginny admitted defeat and headed to Malfoy Manor.

It was the only building for at least 20 miles and somebody obviously wasn't going to let her leave until she went there so with great reluctance she set off. Tall gates surrounded the huge building though that wasn't the end of Malfoy Manor. As Ginny had previously known and didn't need Malfoy's confirmation of the fact the previous night, the land went on for miles. It seemed these forbidding gates were merely an attempt to keep people away from the house. They didn't work on Ginny. Boldly she made her way up the path and knocked on the large door. To her surprise, Malfoy answered the door.

"You," he smirked when he saw her.

"You," she all-but growled. "Let me in so I can floo out."

He didn't move out of the way.

"Malfoy," now she was growling.

"Weasley," he returned her tone easily. "What are you doing here? You couldn't wait to get away from here this morning."

"It's not my fault I'm bloody cursed."

"Oh?" He raised a perfectly curved eyebrow. "And in how exactly are you cursed."

"I bet it was you," she snapped, ignoring him and pushing him out of the way to enter his house.

"Bet what was, hey!" He cried when she pushed him. "This is my house you know, and I don't know what kind of manners your traitor parents taught you but you don't just barge into peoples houses uninvited."

She faced him and rolled her eyes. "Whatever Malfoy, where's your fireplace?"

He was stunned to say the least. What kind of woman showed up at her enemy's house, twice, and acts like it's hers, ordering you about. He shook his head, stunned but amused by her behaviour.

"Fourth door on the left," he told her, neglecting to mention the lack of floo powder by it.

She stalked off in that direction and Malfoy followed her smirking, obviously. Ginny didn't pay much attention to her surroundings as she purposely entered the room, acting as though she belonged in the house. She headed straight for the fireplace but frowned as she looked around, unable to see even the smallest trace of floo powder. She whirled round to see Malfoy, leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed, his smirk widened when he saw her annoyance.

"Floo powder?" She refused to say more than was necessary to this annoying little snake before her.

"Is a shiny powder," Malfoy answered intending to annoy her further.

She huffed, "Where is it?"

"Oh," he cried like he hadn't known that what she meant. "I don't have any."

"What do you mean?" She cried, sounding panicked.

"I mean, there is no floo powder in this house," he clarified, slower this time. "Honestly she-weasel, I always thought you were smarter than your brother."

She glared at him, "Malfoy, stop being a prat. You know that pact we made? Now would be one of those times to ignore it."

Instantly Malfoy softened and he was across the room with his arm around her shoulders in one fluid motion. "I thought that last night but you were trying to get away…"

"Well, when you catch your boyfriend with another woman you really don't want to talk about it straight away," she snapped and shrugged his arm off her.

"Dean and another…Gin, you should have told me."

"No, I shouldn't because that would lead to this and this is not what I wanted. I don't want you being nice to me, Malfoy. That's not right, I just want you to go easy and let me have some floo powder."

Whatever sympathy Malfoy felt left him at her words, "Sorry, _Weasley_, but I don't do 'easy' and as I told you before, I have no floo powder so why don't you just get your poor, shabby, blood traitor self out of my house and off my land."

"I would, but I can't disapparate, you won't let me floo out and I have no money for the Knight Bus."

Malfoy laughed harshly. "No money, well there's a surprise. Looks like you're walking home then, Weasley."

She looked at him, her mouth open in shock. Anger coursed through her body and she could feel her face getting red, she tried to rein it in then. "Fine!" She snapped and stormed out of the room and out of the house.

She walked briskly and was off the grounds in 15 minutes. With each step her anger subsided and before she knew it she was back in the centre of the field. This time she carried on walking until she felt a heaviness lift from around her. She tried apparating once more. To her immense relief, she felt the familiar stop-lifting feeling she got from travelling this way and shut her eyes closed tight. When she opened them she was blinded by bright red colour before her eyes.


	4. All Alone

Ginny was back in the Burrow. It had been her home before Dean and it was her home now. It would no doubt be her home until the day she died, old, wrinkly and the spinster aunt no one wanted to talk to. She'd be alone, unmarried and have no children of her own. She'd end up doting on her nieces and nephews, and then their children but she'd never have any of her own. She'd die all alone, be buried all alone, that was her fate now. Her life. Alone.

After finally managing to disapparate from Malstone, Ginny had gone to the Burrow where she'd landed in the living room to find herself stood before her brothers and parents. The only none redhead in the room was Hermione. It was a rare sight to see her family all together.

"Oh, Ginny, there you are!" Her mother had cried. "We were getting worried."

"Worried, why?"

"Well, Dean Flooed over earlier wondering if you were here. Apparently he hadn't seen you since before he went to work yesterday."

"The lying little…" Ginny mumbled to herself before she calmed down and bounded over to her eldest brother, Bill, and happily wriggled herself into the empty space beside him. She delivered the expected poke to his stomach and flashed him a grin.

"What was that?" Her mother asked, not paying any attention to Ginny's traditional actions.

"Nothing," a patch of red began to appear on her neck. "So, what's everyone doing here?"

"You forgot?" Hermione answered, she sounded a little hurt.

"Forgot? Of course not," the red patch spread more as she racked her brain to remember what was happening. "We're meant to be…" She trailed off; she really was a bad liar.

"Celebrating Hermione's birthday," Bill filled in for her.

Recognition flickered across Ginny's face as she remembered. "Oh, yeah," she whispered. "Well come here, birthday girl. Let me give you a hug."

Ginny struggled out of her space and walked across the room to her friend.

"What's going on?" Hermione whispered to her.

Ginny just shook her head in response. "I suppose you're waiting for the presents then, hey?"

Hermione nodded eagerly, making Ginny laugh.

They all watched on as Hermione opened present after present, Ginny thanking Merlin she'd taken the present to the Burrow the week before and it wasn't still back at her flat. After the presents were open they had a celebratory birthday lunch since Ginny had missed breakfast and then people began to head back to work. Molly, Hermione, Ginny, Bill and Charlie were the only ones left. As Charlie helped Molly to tidy up in the kitchen, Bill, Ginny and Hermione were in the living room once more. Hermione and Bill were questioning Ginny as to what was wrong with her.

"What happened last night?" Hermione's concerned voice drifted over to Ginny. "Everything was fine when we left the pub last night."

Ginny nodded, "Then I got home."

"What happened?" Bill automatically went into over-protective brother mode. "Did he hurt you? Because if he did…"

"No," Ginny put a hand on his arm to calm him. "Nothing like that. He was…and she…they were…" She began to tear up once again. "I found them together."

Hermione gasped and Bill swore under his breath. "You're kidding!" Bill cried in shock and disgust. "He was cheating on you? That bloody bastard! Wait until I get my hands on him."

He stood up and prepared himself for apparation. "Bill, no, just leave it."

"But he hurt you, Gin."

"Yeah, and hurting him won't make it better. Please, just leave him."

Bill looked at her in disbelief before looking at Hermione who simply shrugged. "Alright, but if he comes near you gain I'll rip him apart."

As though testing the theory, Dean appeared in the room at that moment. "Ginny, love, thank Merlin you're safe!" He moved towards her and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She stood, frozen for a moment before regaining her sense and pushing him away.

Bill moved towards him but Hermione pulled him back. "Gin, you want us to stay?"

Ginny looked over at her brother and friend and then at the lying, cheating idiot before her. She smiled. "No, I think we'll be fine. Dean won't be staying long."

With a nod Hermione began to walk out of the room, she came back though when Bill didn't take a step. She pushed him out before her. When they were both out of sight Dean's mask dropped. "You told them?" He snarled.

"Why wouldn't I?" Ginny asked flippantly. "They're my family and they deserve to know what kind of people I've been seeing."

"Gin, don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Talk like we're past tense."

"We _are_ past tense," she reminded him. "We've been past tense since you decided to bring another woman into our bed."

"It was a mistake; you can't throw it all away over one mistake. Throw us away."

"A mistake?" Ginny looked at him carefully. "Tell me, Dean, were you drunk? Under the influence of some mind-altering drug or spell? Drank some random potion?"

"No," he said cautiously.

"No," Ginny repeated. "So you were in full control of yourself when it happened. You knew exactly what you were doing?"

"Yes," he was just as cautious.

"THEN IT WASN'T A MISTAKE, YOU STUPID SON OF A TOAD!" She screamed at him. Immediately after shouting she felt better, as though a weight had been lifted. When she spoke again it was with her normal calmness. "You knew exactly what you were doing and you still went ahead and did it anyway. Why?"

"What?" Dean seemed startled by her change in attitude and sudden question.

"Why?" she repeated. "Why did you do it?"

"Well, it's just that after the other night I was feeling, I don't know, like half a man, I suppose. I just wanted to prove that there was still something there and you saw her Gin, she was young, attractive and she wanted me, too."

Ginny shut her eyes; the image of catching them came back to her. She shuddered. When she opened her eyes they were blazing with fury but once again her voice remained calm. "I wanted you Dean; you could have proven it to me."

"You don't understand," he told her. "If it had happened again with you then I still wouldn't know who the problem was with, this way I could work it out. And even though it's you I don't mind, I can live with that, I just want you to come back to me."

It took all Ginny had not to began laughing there and then. Was he really so delusional as to think that would work? That that was how to sweet-talk her into coming back to him? That it was her fault that he couldn't keep it in his pants? She looked at his face, 'Oh good Merlin!' she thought. 'He really believes that.'

"I'm not coming back," she said coldly.

Dean's face contorted in pain. "Yes, you are," he said as he took a step forward and gripped onto her arm. "We're going now, say goodbye."

"No, get off me, you're hurting me."

Dean just sneered at her.

"You heard the lady," a voice spoke up loudly behind them. "Let her go."

Dean whirled around, still gripping Ginny; they were both now facing Draco Malfoy. "What's it to you?" Dean spat.

"Absolutely nothing, except she's obviously in pain and doesn't want to go with you and I do believe you're in her house so let her go."

"No," Dean cried.

"Yes," Draco said coldly and whipped out his wand. He took a menacing step towards Dean, who got his own wand out in return.

"What's going on here?" Bill was back and he'd brought the remaining Weasley's with him.

"Oh shit," Dean murmured, releasing Ginny and disapparating instantly.

Now free, Ginny ran into the arms of her eldest brother where she cried quietly. Bill wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair soothingly. "Gin, is everything okay?"

Ginny didn't answer his question as she continued to sob. Bill turned his attention to Malfoy, "What did he do to her?" He asked, making no attempt to hide his contempt at needing a Malfoy to answer his questions.

Malfoy shrugged, "I don't know, when I came in here they were arguing. He was trying to get her to go somewhere with him and she was trying to get away from him.

Bill nodded as though he'd expected this, "I knew we shouldn't have left her alone," he told Hermione. He walked Ginny over to the couch where she proceeded to manoeuvre herself so that Bill had just one arm around her and she was crying into his shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione glared at Malfoy. There was no love-lost between the two.

"Ginny came to me for help, I was rude and turned her away. I wanted to apologize."

"You, rude? Never!" Hermione gasped sarcastically. "Hold on, did you just say you came to apologize?"

"Yes," Malfoy nodded before turning his attentions away from the bookworm and on to the broken hearted beauty.

"What's going on?" Molly interrupted before any more words could be said.

Hermione, who, with the help of Bill, had relayed what Ginny had told them to Charlie, looked over at the second eldest to tell his mother as she stepped towards Ginny. Her crying was starting to subside and she was moving out of Bill's embrace. Draco was crouched at her feet holding onto one of her hands. Hermione watched in shock, was Draco Malfoy was really comforting Ginny that much? Was he even comforting her at all? As she watched she could hear Charlie and Molly talking distantly in the background, Bill was starting to join in with them too. Bill stood up and walked to his mum and brother, Draco took his seat.

"Uh," Draco looked up at the four Weasley's. "Could I talk to Ginny in private please?"

"Huh?" They all looked at him in surprise.

"Ginny, can I talk to her alone."

"Oh, uh, sure," Molly stammered. "Come on into the kitchen you three, you can help me make a start on dinner."

"Mum…" Bill said, glaring still at Malfoy.

"Bill, come on," Hermione pushed him out of the room again.

There was silence from them for a few moments, the only sounds coming from a clock somewhere amongst the ornaments on the shelves and the occasional sniffle from Ginny.

"So," Malfoy began but was cut off by Ginny.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" She questioned him, not looking at him.

"Fulfilling my promise," he answered. "And besides, I thought I should apologize for before. You were upset and I took the first chance I could to get rid of you."

Ginny finally looked at him, the surprise on her face evident.

"What?" he frowned.

She shook her head, "Nothing, I just never expected to hear you apologize, that's all. Well, not for something you've done."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, after Harry was killed you apologized then and you hadn't done anything. Only time I've ever heard you apologize."

Malfoy's face was a mixture of thought and awkwardness. "Well, about Harry. I promised him I'd help you if you needed it and here I am, ready to help. What do you want me to do? Curse Thomas into next year? I can do that. Knock a few rounds out of him? I can do that, too. Get you drunk so you forget all about it? I can definitely do that!"

Ginny laughed. "Actually, I think I just need to stay around my family for now but thanks."

"Oh, okay," Malfoy sounded a little bit disappointed. "Well, I'll try not to see you around then, you bring too much drama with you."

Ginny laughed, "Alright, thanks."

Malfoy nodded and stood up, he prepared himself to apparate.

"Draco?" Ginny's voice was shy and quiet. "There was something you could do, if you want. I mean, you don't have to, I'll understand if you say no…"

Malfoy looked at her with amusement. "Go on."

"Well, can you come by the flat tomorrow and help me get my stuff? I don't want to go alone."

"Sure," and with that he disapparated from the room.

Ginny spent the rest of the day with her family and was questioned by the rest of her them when they got back. Shortly after dinner she excused herself from the table and went up to her old bedroom where she began to think of how alone she was. As she thought back on the days events though she was glad that, as alone as she felt, she had her family around her.


	5. Past Pain

**A/N:** I hadn't forgotten, I've just been trying to work out what to write after that first bit with Ginny and Draco, the second bit isn't really anything I intended to write into the story but it's pretty important so I figured it's a good idea to put it in. I'll try and be quicker updating next time. Oh, a **warning**: there is language and a scene that will (unless you're seriously twisted) will make you shudder, if only because of who's involved. Don't say I didn't warn you.  
Review!  
Rae  
x

**Chapter 4**

"Merlin, Weasley, you've hoarded a lot of shit."

"Sentimental value Malfoy, I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"Sure," he groaned as he lifted a box. Despite the strain in his voice the disbelief was clearly audible in his tone.

"What?" She rolled her eyes at his struggle and took the box from him with no trouble. There was barely any weight to it. "There's lighter boxes over there if this one's too heavy for you."

Malfoy shot her a glare and snatched the box back, "I can handle it," he puffed his chest out. "All man I am."

Ginny burst out laughing.

"Hey!" He cried indignantly.

"Sorry," she panted out. "It's just…you loo…looked so…stupid!" She managed to gasp out between giggles. She received a menacing stare from Malfoy that only made her laugh harder. "Draco, you prat. Scare tactics don't work on me so stop it. We need to get this done before Dean gets home."

A silence descended over them for a couple of minutes before Malfoy spoke up.

"Why?" His eyes flickered to her exposed wrist. A clearly identifiable handprint shaped bruise was evident. "He won't touch you again, not while I'm around."

Ginny, shaken by the memories of past events and Malfoy's sincerity, sniffed as she nodded. "You're not always going to be though, are you?"

Draco looked at her for a moment, set the box down, closed the gap between them and wrapped her up in a hug. "I'll be here for as long you need me."

She nodded against his chest and let out a noise a mix between a whimper and a sigh. She was about to say something when she felt the warmth from Malfoy's arms disappear from around her.

"Come on," he sounded hoarse and cleared his throat. "We've got to get this done quickly, remember?" He now sounded as cold and harsh as ever.

Ginny studied him; all warmth and emotion was gone from the look of his now gruff and robotic movements. "Yeah," she whispered, shocked by such a sudden change in his demeanour.

They barely spoke for the next half hour it took to sort through all of, what Malfoy referred to as, "Ginny's junk". Ginny was busy wondering what exactly had happened to make Malfoy act like this. Malfoy was wondering what was wrong with him. Here he was trying to fulfil his promise to a dead man and keep his distance but this woman just wouldn't let him do that. Not in his own way. She was worming her way into his life and he couldn't stop the feelings he was getting towards her. Towards her safety. Wrong feelings. Very wrong, in fact. It was too much time in the she-weasel's company, he decided, it was enough to turn even the sanest of men completely and utterly bonkers.

Lost in his or her own thoughts, neither Ginny nor Malfoy noticed the tension radiating throughout the small flat.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_This seems like a good opportunity to explain just how such a change in the famously egotistical, arrogant, cold Draco Malfoy came around. The simplest and most common answer among the magical community was that he had never really supported Voldemort and was working as a spy for the good side, therefore clearing him of any charges he should have faced for Death Eater actions after Voldemort's defeat._

_The truth, as always, was a lot more complex. Draco Malfoy had every intention of joining Voldemort's ranks when he graduated from Hogwarts; circumstances brought it a little closer. As a show of his devotion to his master, Draco was expected to kill Dumbledore and help plan the takeover of Hogwarts. The Death Eaters succeeded in entering Hogwarts but when the time came to kill Dumbledore, Draco couldn't do it. Snape stepped up to do it for him and the mission had failed. At that moment Draco Malfoy realised one of the most important lessons of his life; he may be many things but a murderer was not one of them._

_Voldemort apparently sensed this._

"_It's okay Draco," he consoled later that fateful night. "We have lesser positions for you."_

"_Lesser positions?" Draco queried, cold grey eyes penetrating the grotesque figure before him._

"_Perhaps a messenger? Or maybe we could use you for spell practice?" Voldemort's lips turned to distorted sneer, gleaming-white fang-like teeth baring at Draco. The crowd of death eaters around them laughed cruelly._

"_Please, master!" Snape piped up in support of the child. "He can make it up to you."_

"_Silence Severus!" Voldemort hissed at the greasy-haired man. "I have yet to deal with you."_

_Snape automatically shut up but shot a concerned glance at Draco._

"_Draco," Voldemort turned to him once more, a malicious smile on his face. "I may have a use for you yet."_

"_Anything, master," Draco bowed at the Dark Lord ready to hear his new job._

_And so it was that Draco, in a final attempt to get back into Voldemort's good books, was ordered to stage an attack on Azkaban to free all incarcerated death eaters. "Including your father," Voldemort had reminded should the fact escape his attention._

_It took two months to plan every detail and consumed Draco's life, not that he had anything else to do. Re-entry into the wizarding world was impossible and it wasn't safe to contact his mother. He ate, slept, and breathed this mission. In contrast to the Hogwarts attack, the freeing of Azkaban prisoners was a huge success. There were only two casualties and Voldemort dismissed them easily, they were, after all, the deaths of traitors. For Draco the success was what he needed to finally become a death eater. Voldemort had other plans._

"_There is just one more thing we ask of you, Draco."_

"_Anything, master," he echoed the words of the last night he had been with them all together. "Give your wand to your father."_

_Draco, confused but willing, handed the wand over to his father._

"_Bring in the traitor," Voldemort commanded._

_Draco watched in horror as his mother was brought before them. Hands tied behind her back and gagged, she didn't struggle, she didn't fight, she didn't attempt to say a word, she didn't even look scared. She stared, her face a mask of emotions, at Voldemort as if daring him to do anything._

"_Draco, your mother here has been a very naughty girl."_

_Narcissa's eyes widened at the mention of her son and she spun to face him, seeing him for the first time. The mask she'd been fighting to maintain was gone and she looked at her son with a mix of panic, fear and pain. She tried to walk towards him but the death eater who led her in pulled her back viciously by her hair._

"While your father was away in Azkaban," Voldemort continued lightly, as though Lucius had been on holiday. "And you were here working to free him, your mother has been entertaining for male visitors from the Order, passing on information to them. What do you have to say to that, Draco?"

_Draco looked at his mother in disgust, "Whore," he said eventually._

_Voldemort's lips twisted into what could only be guessed as a smile. "Yes," Voldemort drawled, standing from his thrown-like chair and sweeping towards her. "She is, isn't she?"_

"_If it were true," Draco answered Voldemort._

"_You don't believe me?" Voldemort chuckled coldly. "You need proof?"_

_Draco was silent as he watched his mother shudder and Voldemort bring out a wand from the depths of his robes. "Ingravescato," he said, a thin white light beamed from his wand and settled on Narcissa's stomach. It seemed to be searching for something before turning a bright pink colour. "It seems your mother is expecting a little girl, Draco. Now what do you say?"_

"_Whore," he repeated again, tearing his eyes away from his mum to look boldly at Voldemort, in doing so he didn't notice the surprise and anger that crept across Narcissa's face. "I say my mother is a traitor and a whore and as such should be punished."_

_The smile on Voldemort's face grew; "Very well," he motioned to Lucius who raised the wand. Lucius opened his mouth to say the curse but Voldemort held out a hand, "Stop!" He commanded._

_Voldemort closed the little distance between Narcissa and himself and lifted a thin, white, bony hand to her face, she shuddered again. "It seems a shame to injure such a pretty face. Especially when she has yet to receive her treat." _

_Suddenly he had a hand on her breast, another on her thigh, bringing it higher and further inside her leg. Draco turned away as she let out a loud whimper, hands from behind him spun his head back to watch the scene as Voldemort raped his mum. To Draco the scene was repulsive but every death eater in the camp watched eagerly, even Lucius seemed happy at what was happening. Draco felt sick to the stomach. He focussed his gaze on a point above them, refusing to watch. He had no idea how long it continued but finally Voldemort was talking again._

"_I've missed having you Narcissa," he crooned. "At least I got to enjoy it one last time."_

_Draco looked at his mum. Whore, traitor, whatever she may be she was still his mum and it took all Draco's strength not to break down as the haunted but pleading look in her eyes vanished. All light from her ceased and her body fell in a crumpled heap just seconds after the "Avada Kedavra" left his fathers mouth. The mask she had held when she arrived was now on Draco's face. He refused to show Voldemort his grief or pain; he refused to let any of them know that this whole thing was not what he wanted._

"_Well done, Draco," Lucius put his hand on his sons shoulder. "You've done well, you may now join us."_

_Inwardly Draco blanched at the thought but outwardly he smirked up at his father and walked towards Voldemort._

"_Congratulations, Draco Malfoy, you have shown you are ready to join our ranks. Step up here and receive your Mark of allegiance."_

_Just moments after Draco received the Dark Mark and a ceremony was held on his behalf. He stayed at the camp that night but couldn't sleep. Narcissa's eyes haunted him every time he closed his own, refusing to let him be. _Leave me alone, _he thought desperately. _She was a whore and a traitor, she got what she deserved. You're a death eater now, Draco; nothing can stop you any more.

_He was still haunted by those eyes though. He crept out of the sleeping bag, careful not to disturb his tent-mates and headed for the main camp. Narcissa's beautiful body still lay there but there was someone else there, too. _

_"Severus?" Draco questioned as he got closer._

_His mentor looked up at him, tear-stained eyes shining in the moonlight. Draco noticed with shock that the man looked to have aged thirty or so years since the last time he had seen him, which, when Draco thought about it, was back when Dumbledore had been killed. "Where have you been?"_

"_The Dark Lord, he's had me doing other things for helping you," Snape gave a bitter laugh. "I only did it because she asked me to."_

_Draco frowned but looked down at his mother, she looked so peaceful. "Why are you here?"_

"_I heard they had her, I wanted to protect her. Who did it Draco? Who killed your mother?"_

_Draco looked down at his feet guiltily, Snape noticed and gasped in shock. "Tell me you didn't."_

"_No," Draco shook his head. "But I may as well have done." Draco relived the evening to his old mentor in all its detail._

"_I swear on your life, Draco, your mother wasn't a traitor nor was she sleeping with members of the Order."_

"_Who else got her pregnant then?" Draco demanded._

"_You've never seen a pregnancy predictor spell before today, have you?" Draco shook his head in answer, making Snape sigh. "I thought not, look…ingravesco." The same white light shot from Snape's wand but this time, instead of turning pink after searching, it returned to the wand. "If your mother had been pregnant it would have stayed. What _he_ used was a variation of the spell, intended to give the results the caster wants. Your mother was faithful to the you, your father and the cause her whole life, Draco."_

"_Why should I believe you?"_

_Snape looked as though he'd been slapped, he shook his head sadly. "I loved your mother, Draco and I love you like a son. You have no reason to believe me but I wish you would. I, after all, am not the one who raped or murdered her. Voldemort is an evil man, Draco, I wish I could have stopped you from doing this, for you and Narcissa," he pointed to the raw red scar on Draco's arm. "He is evil and very good at manipulating people and twisting things to get his own way, why do you think he has so much support? You are your father's son Draco, there is no doubt about it, but you are your mother's son, too. You know the truth."_

_Draco closed his eyes and opened them to find he was looking, once more, at the body of his mother. He looked up at him to find Snape smiling at him._

"_Severus –"_

_Snape cut him off, "First chance you get go to this address," he slipped a piece of parchment into Draco's hand. "Just don't tell them I sent you," he said wryly. "And do me one favour."_

"_Of course," Draco responded immediately._

"_Come see me when this blasted thing is over, I'd like to see what becomes of Narcissa's son."_

_Draco was about to answer but Snape was already walking away. A sad smile on his face, Draco looked down at his mother once more. "I'm so sorry," he whispered to her. That night he made the decision that changed his life forever._


	6. Difficult Decisions

**A/N: I know, it's incredibly short but I can't fit anything else in without going onto the next part of the story, trust me, I did try. That's what took so long getting it up. You got a bit now anyway.  
Enjoy and review!  
Rae  
x

* * *

**

**Chapter 5**

Ginny was sat in the kitchen at the Burrow when it first arrived; an owl from Dean asking to meet with her. Obviously her immediate response had been no but as the day wore on the letter plagued her mind. He had left a week's time before sending the letter. That at least showed some decorum on his side, right? Why else would he leave such a gap? What would he want, anyway? Hadn't they said all they were going to? Ginny certainly had and nothing he could say would change her mind now. He'd made the decision to take his secretary to bed, now he could deal with the consequences. And surely moving her things out of the flat said it all? These rambling thought and similar played her mind until she finally sent her reply of affirmation to Dean.

Two hours after she sent the reply Ginny was sat at a table in a muggle café not far from their flat. Dean sat opposite her telling his side once again. It was nothing she hadn't heard previously and she'd already tuned him out, and he'd only been talking for five minutes.

"Dean," she interrupted him mid-speech. "What are you telling me this for?"

He looked at her in surprise, "I want you back babe, I miss you."

"I'm not coming back," her voice was hard when she spoke.

"But…why did you meet me if you're not coming back?"

Ginny shrugged, she'd been wondering that herself. "I guess I wanted to see if you had anything new to say for yourself."

"Please, it'll never happen again."

"I know it won't," her tone was softened slightly, she hoped he didn't notice. "Because I'm not coming back," she repeated.

"You don't have to move back in," he stammered quickly. "We can take it slow, start again."

"Dean…"

"Please, babe, it'll never happen again, I swear."

"You've said all this before, Dean, its just words."

"Well what will it take for you to believe me?"

"I don't know," she admitted quietly. "Maybe believing you isn't the problem, forgiving you is."

"Gin –"

"This was a mistake, I should go." She hurriedly gathered her belongings and all-but ran from the café.

She continued in this fashion down the busy crowded street, not caring to avoid anyone who got in her way. It took her less than a minute to realise she was being followed.

"What do you need to do to forgive me?"

"I don't need to do anything."

"Well then what?"

"Give me a day. I'll meet you at the flat tomorrow with my final decision. And I mean final, Dean, if I chose to forget all about you you're never to try and contact me again, ok?"

There was a pause as Dean seemed to be considering her decision, "Ok, same time as today?"

Ginny nodded as she walked away from him, her mind already delighting in telling him to stuff it.

Why then, with this resolution in mind, did her thoughts betray her once more? She was struck again with conflicting thoughts. The logical side of her was looking forward to cutting all ties with her slimy, two-face cheating ex but then there was that other side of her. The betraying little girl within who dreamed of that true love and the perfect life with the big house and wonderful family. All of it. Though still only young in years this part of Ginny told her she had to grab onto it as soon as possible before it went away and never returned. Silly, she knew, she had an entire lifetime and then some ahead of her but self doubt is often more troubling than that placed by another person.

"So I don't know what to do. I mean, he cheated on me, why would I go back but I do love him."

"Ginny, you know my views on the whole situation but if he truly makes you happy maybe you should give it another try," her mother advised across the table.

"But I don't know if I do mum," Ginny hid her face in her hands, running them up through her hands. "The only one I ever thought would make me truly happy was Harry and then he went and got himself killed –"

"Ginny Weasley!" Molly admonished, horrified by her daughters attitude. "He did not 'get himself killed', he died to protect us all."

"I know but that doesn't stop the fact that he left me all alone. A part of me died with him mum, a part that lets me love the same way I did with him. I thought I'd be alone forever and then Dean appeared and I do love him, I might even be happy with him but its not the same as with Harry."

Molly took her daughters hand. "It was never going to be," she soothed to her daughter. "But if the war taught you anything its that you have to hold on to everything you hold dear. If Dean is important to you you'll go back and try to put this whole thing behind you. I'm sure being away from you has taught him a lesson never to cheat on you again."

Ginny gave her mum a weak smile. "I guess…"

"What would Harry tell you to do?"

"Harry would have married me already and stopped me going anywhere near Dean to begin with."

Molly laughed, "You might be right there. Have you decided?"

Biting her lower lip nervously, Ginny nodded slowly.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"You're kidding!" Dean cried loudly after Ginny made her decision. "That's…that's fantastic, Gin."

"We're taking it slow, Dean," Ginny informed him before he could get too excited, he was already making a move towards her. "I'm not moving back in, not right away anyway, and this is to be a trial thing only to see if we can make it work."

"Of course," he nodded, wrapping her up in a hug and inhaling her scent. "Merlin, I missed you."

"I missed you, too," she wriggled out of his grip. Normally it made her feel safe and brought little butterflies to her stomach, now it just made her feel queasy. "I should get back, mum will be starting to prepare dinner."

"Stay," he urged her. "Not long, just a couple of hours. You'll be home in time for dinner."

"No, I told her I'd help and I don't want to let her down." Ginny sounded anxious to get away.

"Babe," Dean said as he rubbed her arms up and down. "Relax, it's just me. Floo Molly, I'm sure she won't mind."

Ginny nodded and did so. As Dean predicted, Molly had no problem with Ginny staying, in fact, she seemed quite glad of it.

"Well then," Dean said silkily as Ginny stood up from the fireplace. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, nuzzling his face into her neck. "You and me have got a little making up to do," he murmured.

"Dean..." she gasped as his hands began to roam upwards.

Quickly she turned around to face him, her intention to tell him off but at seeing the adorably cute innocent look on his face she stood up on her tiptoes and reached up. Both her arms wrapped around his neck and her hands began to play with his hair. She tilted her head upwards and melted into him when his lips met hers. She'd missed this, his gentle, caring lips and soft touches. The same touches that were gently stroking her sides underneath her top; she groaned when he nudged her breast. She pulled away long enough to command "Bedroom, now," in a rather husky voice before jumping up wrapping her legs around her waist. Dean cupped her backside and carried her into the bedroom.

Later as Ginny lay in Dean's arms, listening to his rhythmic breathing she felt the now familiar sense of apprehension return. How did she really know she could trust him? She loved him, sure but was it really enough? Dean stirred and tightened his hold on her, she wriggled herself so that she was positioned more comfortably and sighed when she closed her eyes. She wouldn't know, she supposed, it was just something she'd have to wait out. For now she may as well enjoy herself.


	7. Weasley's Woes

**Chapter 6**

They'd been back together for nearly a month now and Ginny was glad she'd ignored her anxiety. These past three weeks had been pure bliss for Ginny. It had started off awkward as they readjusting to each other but Dean was incredibly apologetic and soon they were back to normal, only better. Or at least, that's what Ginny thought.

"Babe, I'm going to have work late tonight. Why don't you and Hermione do something?"

Alarm bells began ringing immediately; Ginny paled and could feel her palms getting clammy. Wiping them on her jeans under the table she was sat at, Ginny tried her best to seem enthusiastic but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "I don't know if I'll be able to on such short notice but that's not a bad idea."

"I'm sure she'll be able to, you could always go to hers for a night in."

"Yeah," Ginny agreed. "Well, I better go to work. See you later." She kissed his cheek as had become tradition before disapparating.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Ginny's fist was hurting from the thumping on the heavy wooden door before her but she didn't let that stop her from continuing the pounding. After a good five minutes a rather dishevelled-looking Ron answered the door, dressed only in a pair of boxers.

"You're still in bed?" Ginny asked in disgust. "Its nearly half nine!"

"Exactly. Some people don't have to be up for another hour. What are you doing here anyway, shouldn't you be in work?"

"Yeah, but I need to speak to Hermione ab–"

"Ronnie, baby, come back to bed," a hand slid from behind the door across Ron's chest. Slowly Hermione's head appeared, her now-tamed hair was back to its old bushy birds nest style as she whispered into Ron's ear.

As if that weren't an embarrassing enough sight for Ginny, Hermione was 'dressed' in just a sheet wrapped around her. "Oh, Gin, hey," Hermione blushed when she realised she was being watched, nervously she ran a hand through her hair in an effort to tame it, Ginny smiled at the obvious resemblance to Harry.

"Hi, sorry to disturb you, I'll come back later."

"No," Hermione called after Ginny's already retreating figure, sensing her need to talk. "Wait here, I'll only be a minute to get changed, Ron can make us some tea while you wait."

Ron scowled but dutifully followed his wife's command. Feeling guilty Ginny settled onto the couch in their lounge.

"So what's this about?" Hermione asked when she reappeared two minutes later, fully dressed and hair immaculate; it always amazed Ginny how fast she could get ready.

"Really, Mi, it's nothing, I'm just imagining things. I should go, I'm so sorry to interrupt you and Ron…" Ginny shuddered just at the thought.

Normally Hermione would have laughed at her friend's behaviour but she was far too concerned to do that now. "Curls, tell me the truth," she warned gently.

"Oh," Ginny sighed, "I don't know. Dean and I were having breakfast and he said he's going to be working late. That's what he said last time when he…"

"He might just be working late, Gin, there's no need to be worried."

"I know but how am I meant to know, Mi? I couldn't bear to go home and find him at it again." Her eyes were beginning to well up with tears.

"Look, he'd be mad to try it again, especially with the entire Weasley family out to get him if he messes up again but, if you want we can both go to yours tonight, I'll go first, put any fears you might have to rest."

"You wouldn't mind?" Ginny asked, hopeful for an answer in the affirmative.

"Of course not. I'll meet you after work, okay?"

Ginny nodded and bid her goodbyes, apologizing once more for disturbing them and disapparated to go to work.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Ginny was sat in the third floor canteen enjoying her lunch when Nick the messenger appeared.

"Nick! Hi!" Ginny said enthusiastically when she saw him.

Nick smiled and walked over, "Miss Weasley, there's a gentleman here to see you. He's refusing to leave until he's spoken to you."

Ginny frowned, "Who is it?"

"He didn't say but he's about my height, light-brown-blonde hair and really pale."

Ginny's frown deepened, "I'll be there in a minute."

"Right you are, miss," and with that Nick scuttled away.

"Aww, he's so cute," Ginny remarked. "I want a little mini-Nick to carry around with me, remind me to get him a girlfriend one day."

The people on the table at which she was sat laughed as Ginny stood and left the canteen. She walked down the corridor and down a flight of stairs and then down another corridor before she reached her office. She could see the back of a man sat reclining casually on the back two legs of the visitor's chair, his hands linked behind his head and his feet propped onto her desk. True to Nick's words he had light-brown-blonde hair.

"Hello?" Ginny queried, not recognising the man before her.

The man turned around and Ginny failed to suppress the laughter at the sight. Draco Malfoy stood smirking before her, his trademark platinum blonde hair replaced by the mismatch mess.

"What happened to you?"

His smirk turned to a scowl, "Well I think it looks good."

"Well it looks better than green but seriously, Malfoy, what happened to you?"

"Opal bloody Dentus."

"Who?" Ginny giggled.

"Bad date last week, the end was a little…messy."

"Apparently," Ginny eyed him casually. "It looks like you got a blind house elf to do your hair."

"Unfortunately I was the only blind one that night."

"What?" Ginny asked, confused for the second time that day.

"Never mind."

"Ok…" Ginny shrugged, sitting at her desk. After a few minutes silence she spoke again, "So, why are you here?"

"Huh?"

"You came to see me, remember? Why are you here?"

"Oh, right, you've got to swear not to hurt me, Weasley. There are few things I'm scared of in this world but a raging Ginny is definitely one of them."

Ginny just smiled and nodded, motioning for him to stop rambling and instead continue.

"I hear you're back with Thomas," he said bluntly.

Something in his tone annoyed Ginny and instantly put her in mood for a fight. "What's it to you?" She sounded cold yet distant; Draco didn't fail to notice the hidden danger in her voice but ignored it regardless.

"Things going well?"

"Everything's great, I've got the perfect life." There was a slight momentary pause before she answered and a tiny tremor in her voice in her voice, tiny things a normal person wouldn't pick up on but Draco noticed instantly, having been trained since birth to read people as easily as a baby's book.

"More like the perfect lie," Draco muttered audibly.

"What's that meant to mean?" Ginny's eyed narrowed suspiciously at Draco.

"Nothing, except I saw how broken up you were when you caught him cheating on you and I don't think its anything anyone wants to see again. Now, I don't know why no one's tried to stop you yet but really, Weasley, do you think you're making the right decision?"

Ginny's nostrils flared, a clear indication of her anger, but she took a calming breath. "My family trust me to make my own decisions and my own mistakes, ferret. I don't see why it's any business of yours, anyway."

"It became my business the minute you stepped foot on my land. You wandered back into my life and like the abiding fool that I am I had to look after you and I can't leave you alone until you're truly happy. And the way I know you're not truly happy is the dull screaming in my head, so I ask you again; are things going well?"

"Well I'm sorry my emotional well-being is giving you a headache but I didn't ask to appear on your land, I just wasn't thinking very well when I apparated."

"It wouldn't have mattered, you'd have ended up there anyway," Draco said quietly.

"What?" Ginny snapped at him in surprise.

"Nothing," Draco shrugged it off. "Stop changing the subject and tell me about you and Thomas."

"Dean and I are fine," she looked at him murderously. "Just peachy infact."

"Liar, now tell me the truth."

Ginny let out a quiet growl of frustration. "I don't have to tell you anything, you're in my office, remember?"

Draco stared at her blankly, "And you're in my head, remember?" He mimicked sarcastically.

"Fine," she groaned, collapsing in her chair and leaning forward her head in her hands. A small noise came from her.

"What?" Draco asked, obviously knowing she was saying something.

"I said 'I don't know if I can make it work.' Stop smirking!"

Draco's smirk remained on his face but his tone was sympathetic, "What's happened? Because I only started getting this pain this morning, it's been good up 'til then."

"I know, and then he said he had to work late…that's what he said last time." Tears began to form in her eyes but she blinked them back.

"Gin, he really might just have to work late," Draco consoled, moving up from his chair and around the desk where he crouched down in front of Ginny.

"I know," she nodded, her temper calming drastically. "That's what Hermione said, too."

"Well, you know, Granger's a bright witch, not as bright as me obviously but she's smart, she knows what she's talking about," he gave her a sly grin, pleased with the smile that started to form on her face, too.

"She's a Weasley now," Ginny corrected him lightly.

"Oh, you're right," Draco said thoughtfully. "That's got to have dumbed her down a bit, maybe she's not that smart after all."

Ginny just laughed at his playful insult, they were long past the stage were their insults hurt. They had been for a while now.

"Well, I'm still right," Draco continued pompously. "So you're going to go home tonight and you're going to forget all about any doubts you've got and just enjoy your evening and when Thomas gets in, and yes, it will be from work, you're going to remember that I was right."

Ginny nodded and leaned down with the intention of hugging him, unfortunately gravity's pull was much too strong and she toppled off the chair, landing on top of Malfoy with a small oof. It took her a few moments to register what had happened but when she did she blushed, looking at Draco, expecting him to be angry at the invasion of his personal space. Instead he was looking at her with a soft look in his normally cold grey eyes; this just made Ginny blush harder. She hurried to get off him, it was only when she was standing up she realised how comfortable she'd been in his arms.

"Sorry, I must have lost my balance or something."

Draco just shook his head, any warmth in his eyes gone. "Don't worry about it," he croaked out. "I'll see you around, Weaselette." And with that he swept from the room, robe billowing out behind him. Ginny watched him go, confused as ever at his odd behaviour.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_It had been three weeks since the night he'd seen his mother tortured. Three long weeks in which he'd had to pretend to be an avid worshipper of him. Lord Voldemort. Three weeks living a lie, pretending that the stench of death that hung around the camp had no effect on him. Three weeks pretending that he, Draco Malfoy, was what he had always dreamed of being, what he had been raised for: a Death Eater._

_Now, he was gone, he'd found his chance. Voldemort had gone somewhere, he didn't know where; newbie members weren't allowed to know such "classified" information. And he'd taken most of the group with him. Those that remained where on guard duty. He had to go now; he'd have no other chance._

_Of course, part of him wanted to stay, that tiny part of him that still believed in Voldemort and what he stood for but it wasn't enough. It wasn't a big enough part of him to convince himself to stay for this…evil, he supposed. He quickly packed up his few belongings; this was made quicker by the fact that he hadn't unpacked that much. With everything fit into one bag he began to creep out of the camp._

_Within a two-mile radius of the camp were spells and charms to prevent intruders from getting in and captives escaping. Disapparation was impossible unless at the scheduled times and, after walking for an hour, he was beginning to wish he'd worked out this plan better and disapparated at the same time the others did. It was only the thought that, should they try to track him down, as he was sure they would, they could easily track a lone apparation trail that made him thankful he hadn't._

_Finally he felt a sense of ease pass through him, or rather, he passed through the veil of darkness and light that meant he had left the enchantments of the camp. He took the miniature broom from his bag, charming it back to its original life-size and mounted it, flying as fast as the aging Nimbus would take him. It was still fast, it was only 4 years old after all but as he sped along he was beginning to wish, and not for the first time in his life, that he was a bit more like Harry Potter with his best-that-money-can-buy broom._

_Where he was flying to he had no idea, he didn't even know what he was looking for, he merely hoped he would know when he got there. He wasn't entirely sure where Voldemort's camp was even set up; he just knew it was in England somewhere. His only hope was to fly around until he saw a mass of people and try to blend in. That was the first part of his plan, the second was to find some kind of disguise and a kind witch or wizard who would let him floo somewhere, from there he could get the Knight Bus to the address in his pocket. Ottery Saint Catchpole, Draco thought to himself distractedly. Where is that anyway?_

_Finally, cold and tired, Draco began his descent. It wasn't near a particularly crowded area but he'd been flying for nearly four hours, surely that was enough distance between them? Tough, it'd have to be, his backside was going numb. Landing in a deserted alleyway, Draco shrunk his broom and placed it back into his bag before altering his hair. The platinum blonde locks he had been carefully growing were now in an incredibly short, cut-close-to-the-head, spiky style, worse though, for Draco at least, was the forest green colour they now held._

_In keeping with the theme he changed the detail of his clothes (currently jeans and a plain shirt) into baggy jeans that fell off his waist and a black t-shirt with some silver squiggly details about the only muggle band Draco had heard of Green Day. I really need a belt, Draco thought as he walked out of the alley and onto the street. He'd taken less than three steps before someone bumped into him._

"_Hey, watch where you're going!" The woman said to him, rather loudly considering they were stood next to each other. "Stupid punk-ass kids," the woman muttered as she walked away._

_Draco stared after the woman with wide-eyes at her ignorance. Bloody muggles, he thought darkly as he sloped down the street, careful to avoid any of them. The dark look on his face fit well with the ensemble he'd created for himself._

_After walking for an hour or two Draco was beginning to feel the effects of the day catching up with him and his search for a kind witch or wizard wasn't going too well. To be fair this was the only part of his plan he'd envisaged having problems with. How was he going to know if he came across one anyway? It wasn't like they walked around with "magical" stamped onto their forehead, was it? He released a frustrated sigh and ducked into the nearest building. It was a pub; he may as well rest and have a drink before he continued._

_The silence that took over the room when he entered was almost deafening. Draco looked up from his shoes to see a couple dozen of the oddest looking men, women and creatures looking at him. He let out a rare smile._

"_This is a magical pub?" He asked unnecessarily, that tiny part of him still fighting against reality to tell him not to get his hopes up._

"_Who are you?" The bartender asked with narrow eyes, never before had he seen this boy in the pub full of regulars._

"_D...Damien Nichols, graduated from Hogwarts this summer, I've been trying to find somewhere to floo from."_

"_Well then, welcome to the Newts Pitchers. You can floo at the fire." And with that everyone went back to what they were doing._

_Draco shook his head, surely he couldn't be amused at what had happened, and went directly to the fireplace. He was about to throw the floo powder in when he thought better of it._

"_Can I have a firewhiskey, please?" He ordered, drank, paid for and then threw the powder into the fireplace._

"_Hetherington," he said the first place that came into his head and stepped into the emerald fire feeling that horrible floo-travel sensation. He'd have disapparated but it was too easily traceable._

_He stepped out of a fireplace in another magical pub, this time one in Hetherington. He dusted his clothes off and then left the pub quickly, once outside he immediately put out his wand arm. The great purple triple-decker rolled up before him and the conductor opened his mouth to speak._

"_Save the spiel," Draco instructed as he stepped onto the bus. "There's…eleven galleons and thirty-six sickles, I want to go to Ottery Saint Catchpole. That should be more than enough to cover the travel cost and your silence on the matter."_

"_Yes, sir, thank you," the conductor said in awe, pocketing the money and instructing for Draco to sit down._

_Less than half an hour later the buss rolled to a stop and Draco stepped off the bus, waiting until it was out of sight before making a move. He had no idea where he was going, except that the address said the outskirts of this town. He headed away from it, hoping for some kind of sign to point the way. Finally he saw it, so faintly he wasn't even sure it was there. Magic obviously surrounded the area, it had to be right place._

_He moved towards the aging building unsure of where he was or even if he was walking into a trap. How was he to know that Snape could really be trusted, he was, after all a Death Eater. It didn't matter how good they seemed, a death eaters motives were always his own and as such could never be trusted. Narcissa trusted him though, his mother trusted him. It was out of guilt for her death that he knocked on the door. There were muffled noises from within and slowly the door cautiously crept open. Draco gasped at what he saw._

"_Oh, bloody hell!" He announced.

* * *

_

**A/N: Ok, just so everyone appreciated this I'm going to let you all in on something: Rae is a very tired person and is meant to be revising for her final exams, instead she's spent the last week writing this very long chapter for you all, full of Draco because she appreciates her readers very much. Unfortunately she won't be able to update again for about 3 weeks, that goes for all her stories - she apologises and hopes this goes some way to making you happy again.  
Now, if you could just show her there are no hard feelings and take a little time out of your busy days to send her a review you would make her day (how sad!). She's upset you see, having 1,770 hits and just 9 reviews.  
So let your wonderful reader know how much you care  
Rae**


	8. Edible Engagements

**Chapter 7**

_"Who are you?" A 16-year old, red-haired Ginny Weasley answered the door._

_"Damien Nichols," Draco answered tiredly, using the same fake name he'd used in the Newts Pitchers._

_"Why are you here?" She eyed him up and down curiously._

_"I was told to come here, that it was a safe place."_

_Now she looked suspicious. The only ones who knew where the Burrow was were friends or relatives of the family, they weren't likely to let strangers know. That's not to say it wouldn't be hard to figure it out their location but there were certain enchantments around the house and, similar to Grimmauld Place, it could only be seen if you knew where it was. It was different though, you didn't have to be told directly by the secret keeper, just know its exact location._

_"By who?" She questioned._

_Should he tell her? He debated silently for a moment before answering, "Severus Snape."_

_Ginny gasped and slammed the door in his face or, more accurately, on his face. "Ow," he muttered as he rubbed his nose._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

After work that day, Ginny went straight to Ron and Hermione's house where she stayed for the next couple of hours. Around seven o'clock, true to her word, Hermione apparated to the living area of Ginny and Dean's flat. She heard noises coming from the room to her right and cautiously went to investigate. The sight before her made her gasp. A disapparation later and she was back in front of a fearful Ginny who looked close to tears.

"He is, isn't he?" She sniffed.

"I think you better go there," Hermione responded sombrely.

The tears began to fall but through her upset Ginny nodded and left the house, arriving at her flat to hear the same sounds Hermione had heard. Strange though, that the noises were not coming from the bedroom on the left but the kitchen on the right. With even more caution than Hermione had used, Ginny walked to her right.

"Oh my…" She gasped making Dean drop the cutlery in his hands.

"Gin, you're not meant to be here yet."

"I…what are you doing?" She asked not really hearing Dean.

"Well, I was trying to surprise you," he replied rather shortly. "But since you came home early and ruined it…I was making you dinner."

"Oh, Dean, that's so wonderful of you."

He nodded, almost pompously as he picked up the cutlery and continued to set the table. "Well, go and get changed," he prompted. "Dinner should be ready when you get back."

Ginny did as instructed, returning five minutes later in a black skirt and a black and white, off-the-shoulder, low cut top. Dean smiled at her warmly.

"You look good, baby," he commented surveying her up and down quickly and then pulling out a chair for her to sit in.

She smiled at him as he pushed the chair in. "So what did you make?"

"All your favourites; minestrone soup followed by minted lamb, spring onion mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. Finally there's hot chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice cream."

Ginny's eyes shone. "Dean that's…what have I done to deserve this?"

"Do I need a reason to spoil my beautiful girlfriend?"

Ginny flushed at the comment. "I guess not."

They made their way through the meal comfortably, the conversation kept constant until dessert. Dean placed the plate down before Ginny nervously. There it was, steaming hot chocolate fudge cake with two perfect scoops of vanilla ice cream lightly sprinkled with icing sugar. Ginny ate it serenely, bit by bit until the fork hit down with a quiet chink.

"What's that?" she asked pushing aside some melted ice cream to reveal a gold ring with a small perfectly set diamond in the centre. Bewildered she looked up at Dean only to find he wasn't there. Instead he was kneeling at her feet.

"Ginny Weasley, I know I've made mistakes but you've forgiven them and come back to me. I ask you now, will you do me the greatest honour of marrying me and letting me spend the rest of my life making it up to you?"

Ginny bit the corner of her bottom lip nervously, tears began to shine in her eyes as she shook her head. "No –"

"What?" His eyes widened in surprise. "Why not?"

Ginny put a finger to his lips to silence him. "Shh, let me finish. You do not need to make it up to me, spending my life with you is enough; of course I will marry you."

Dean's frown changed from a frown to a grin of pleasure as he took the ring from her ice cream and cleaned it with his wand then placed it on her outstretched hand. The second it was on Ginny leaned forward to hug him and, just as it had before with Malfoy, gravity took its toll, making her fall and taking Dean with her. They both lay flat on the floor; Ginny recovered first and took his head between her gentle hands, covering his face with soft, gentle kisses. Once she finished with his face she made a trail down his jaw and collarbone, tugging his shirt from his trousers and hastily unbuttoning it. She pulled the shirt apart and moved her lips back up to his, capturing his lower lip gently between her teeth.

"It just occurred to me we never christened the flat properly," she murmured gently, feeling Dean's smile against her shoulder as his hands ran up her legs and under her skirt.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"So someone's certainly cheered up," a voice sneered from Ginny's office doorway.

"Who let you in?" Ginny asked without even looking up, she knew the voice well enough by now.

"Your secretary was away so I figured I'd just come in instead of waiting for you to go to lunch and having to hang around waiting for you again."

Ginny sighed, "What do you want then?"

"Nothing," he answered, sitting and reclining in the spare chair. "Just checking up with you."

"Uh huh," she answered doubtfully.

After a few moments of being ignored he leaned back in the chair, crossing his feet on top of the desk.

"Malfoy…" She warned.

"Then talk to me!" He declared as though it were obvious that were his whole purpose.

"Aww, does ickle Malfoy want some company?" She looked up, laughing at the scowl on his face. "You still haven't changed your hair."

He shrugged, "I was thinking of getting it done professionally. Dye it fully brown, make these little blonde patches highlights."

Ginny nodded, considering the look. "I don't know, I think I prefer the platinum look."

Draco smirked at her, "Well, if the Weaselette likes it like that, that must be how I keep it." Ginny didn't miss the sarcasm in his voice, returning the smirk.

"You're catching on quick," she commented lightly.

"Humph," Malfoy crossed his arms over his chest, making Ginny laugh a soft rolling chuckle.

"Cheer up, Draco. What did you come here for?"

"I told you, I just wanted to see what's got you so happy."

"Oh," she breathed, eyes shining happily. "I can't tell you, I've not even told my family yet," as she said this she brought her left hand up to push a strand of hair from her face.

Draco caught the flash of light and, quicker than she had chance to put her hand down, had his feet firmly on the floor and had lightly gabbed her wrist, examining the gold ring on her hand.

"So, he proposed," he stated more than asked an indescribable tone in his voice. "And you agreed?" This last bit was sneered in amazement.

"So what if I did? I love him Draco, not like I did with Harry but he'd want me to be happy and Dean makes me happy."

"He cheated on you!" Draco cried, his voice rising slightly.

"Thanks for reminding me," she muttered sarcastically. "It doesn't matter, he loves me and he's never going to do it again."

"How do you know?"

Ginny glared at him before shouting; "Get out of my office, right now." Draco made no attempt to leave the room. "I mean it Malfoy, go, now, before I do something that…well, I won't regret but…" She trailed off as she noticed Draco wasn't listening to her but rather staring at her hand, more particularly the ring.

"Malfoy?" She questioned with a frown.

"You hate gold," he answered eventually.

Ginny stared at him a moment, wondering how he could possibly know that before she recovered herself. "Get out Malfoy!"

With a sad look in her direction Draco did as she asked, and left the office with as much poise and sophistication as he'd entered, as though the entire office block hadn't been listening to their argument at the door. Ginny, with a glare at everyone surrounding her office, slammed the door closed behind Malfoy's retreating figure.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_After Ginny had slammed the door on his face, Draco had knocked again. This time the response to answer the door was slower than it had been before and instead of Ginny answering, the door opened to reveal a tall, red-haired man who reminded him of Ron, but older._

_"Snape is a traitor, anyone sent by him is no friend of ours," the man said by way of greeting. He made to shut the door but Draco put his foot in the way, blocking it._

_"Please, I've been travelling for I don't know how long, I'm tired, cold and hungry and I was told this would be a safe place for me to hide from the Dark Lord."_

_The mans eyes narrowed; only supporters of Voldemort called him the Dark Lord. "Show me your forearm," he commanded._

_Feeling it would be rude to refuse, particularly when he was trying to get help from this man, Draco rolled up the sleeve of his jacket to reveal the Dark Mark scar, no longer as red and raw as it had been but still prominent on his pale arm._

_"You dare come to this house with that?"_

_"It's not…it was a mistake. They killed my mother, they tortured her, and Snape said you would help." Draco noticed the wince at the mention of Snape's name and remembered his old mentor's words, 'Don't tell them I sent you'. Way to remember now, he chastised himself._

_Once again the door shut, this time more gently than the first. Two minutes later it reopened to reveal another man, older than the first, with a weary authoritarian aura of him. Draco had seen him before on a trip to the Ministry, this was Arthur Weasley._

_"Damien, is it? Come in, but watch where you walk."_

_Right, because I might catch something, Draco thought bitterly despite the true relief on his face at finally being allowed in._

_It took three tedious hours and a tremendous amount of restraint on Draco's part not to make comments or sneer at the Weasley's before him. Finally, after thorough questioning Draco was presented with a bed in which he could spend the night, a bed within a vibrant orange room. And, though he dined with the Weasley's that night, despite his secret reservations, he could still sense the tension in the air and couldn't help but notice the suspicious looks that were occasionally thrown his way, not that he blamed them in the slightest. If a stranger had knocked on his door looking for help claiming to have been sent by let's say Harry Potter, Draco had no doubt he would have treated them with much more hate and contempt than he, himself, was receiving. In fact, this compassionate treatment, for that is what it was, was so unexpected that Draco wasn't quite sure how to handle it. He was grateful, to be sure, but why would they accept him with as little resistance as glances and tension? _Because they're the good guys_, he realised that first night._ It's in their nature to do the right thing, to help out the guy in need, no matter who he is or what he might have done. Man are they pathetic.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"You're what?" Molly Weasley looked up from peeling potatoes to stare at her daughter in amazement.

"I'm getting married, mum, Dean proposed last night."

"Ginny, that's fantastic! Come here," Molly swept her daughter up in a tight congratulatory hug, kissing both her cheeks. "Arthur! Arthur!"

Arthur Weasley appeared in the doorway within the minute, "Yes, dear?"

"You're daughter's getting married," Molly informed him.

Arthur smiled but he also looked deep in his daughter's eyes, as though searching for something. "Dean?" He checked with her.

"Of course," she blushed.

"Well, congratulations," Arthur, too, hugged her.

"You must invite him round for dinner next week Thursday so we can celebrate properly, a big family dinner."

"That sounds great, mum, thanks."

"Of course, anything for my darling."

Smiling Ginny stayed with her parents for another half hour before disapparating home again.

"Where have you been?" Dean asked her before she had chance to realise she was there.

"I went to tell my parents about last night."

"You told them?" He asked with annoyance in his voice.

"Of course I did, they're my parents, why wouldn't I?"

"I thought you might like to give yourself chance to get used to the idea first," his tone seemed to be getting colder.

"What's the big deal?" She asked with a frown. "It was just my parents…and Malfoy, no one else knows."

"You told Malfoy, too?" Now the anger was unmistakable in his tone.

"Well, he was in the office today and he saw the ring. Look, I know we said we'd keep it quiet but it's only my parents and Draco, they won't tell anyone."

"Oh, so it's Draco now is it?" He sneered at her. "What was Draco Malfoy doing in your office?" He asked the question slowly, accentuating each word.

"He comes by occasionally to check up on me," she shrugged, it didn't seem like anything special to her. She began to walk towards the bedroom to change but Dean grabbed her wrist tightly.

"Why? Why does he visit you?" The pressure he was putting on her wrist increased.

"Dean, let go, you're hurting me."

He didn't let go; in fact he seemed to squeeze a tiny fraction tighter. "Why does he visit you?" He repeated "Are you doing little favours for him, perhaps giving him a little one-on-one action."

"What?" Ginny was outraged now; she pulled hard with her arm and Dean's grip lessened though it did not release her. "You're the one who cheated, Dean," she reminded him. "You're the one who threw away our trust. Don't you dare accuse me of something like that!" Had he not been holding her right wrist, Ginny would have slapped him right then.

"Just because I got caught doesn't mean you haven't been doing the same thing. I saw the looks you shared when I went to the Burrow that day you were there together. Seems you're always together."

"Oh, don't be stupid Dean. I love you; I would never do that to you."

Dean let go of her wrist, "I believe you, I'm sorry."

Ginny shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she said as she rubbed her wrist. "Just don't do that again, ok? I'm fed up of bruises on my wrist."

"Gin, I'm so sorry," he gasped. "I didn't realise I'd gripped you so hard, I was just trying to keep you in the room.

She smiled at him, a half smile but a smile none-the-less, "Doesn't matter," she lent up and gave him a chaste kiss before heading off to the bedroom.

Two minutes later she came out dressed in close-cut, hip-hugging jeans and moderately cut forest green blouse, the top of her ample chest showing.

"Baby, have you seen my silver hoop earrings?"

Without looking up Dean shook his head, "Tried down the side of the settee?" There was a mischievous glint in his eye as he asked.

Blushing Ginny checked. "I can't find them," she told him. "Never mind, I'm going to be late, I'll look for them later."

"Where are you going?" Dean asked, looking up for the first time and realising she was actually dressed as though she were going somewhere.

"Draco's house," she's said lightly grabbing a pinch of Floo powder. "Malstone Manor," she threw the powder onto the fire, watching as the flames turned green, just before she stepped into them she said, "Oh, by the way, mum's invited us to dinner next Thursday, so don't make plans." And then she stepped into the emerald flames, feeling that familiar tug at her navel as she did so. She didn't see the dark look of anger that had took over Dean the second he'd heard Draco's name, or that it got worse when dinner at the Weasley's was mentioned.

* * *

**A/N: It could have been longer but after 6 and a half pages and a weeks writing I'm getting a little bored. Anyway, exams are over now so you can expect semi-regular updates again.  
Oh, I know Ginny seems a little…slutty, what with the end of chapter 5 and the bit when Dean proposes here but you must understand, she's not obsessed with sex or anything, both times she's feeling intense desire for her fiancé.  
I think there's only a few chapters left now, maybe 2 more before she wakes up and then one prologue-y type one which will probably be quite long. That might change though.  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, I'll reply when I get chance…Probably Sunday. Feel free to do the same again, and all you others reading. It only takes a minute, after all!  
Rae**


	9. Dodging Destiny

**Chapter 8**

"Malfoy, you home?" Ginny called as she stepped from the fireplace.

She came out in a large wooden-panelled room, soft, deep grey carpet lined the floor and cupboards clung to the walls. Directly opposite the fireplace, which was set below a wide window, was an oversized mahogany four-poster bed with forest green hangings. Beside it was a bedside table with some photos on it. Ginny waited to see if she heard a reply to her call before curiosity got the better of her and she went to look at them. The first, the larger of two, was a group of photo that Ginny recognised, having an identical one herself in her photo album. Taken 6 years ago, shortly before the final battle, it showed a group of nervous but happy teenagers. At the back stood Harry and Ron with Hermione between them; Ron and Harry stretched their arms across each other's shoulders while Hermione crossed an arm over Ron's stomach to hold his hand. In front of them on either side were Luna and Neville and between them were Ginny and Draco. The whole group was so close together that everyone was bumping in to each other but that didn't seem to bother any of them as they savoured the moment.

The second was a picture of Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy. It seemed to be aging slightly but the woman inside was still smiling brightly as she cradled the baby in her arms.

"It was taken when I was a baby," a voice spoke up behind her making her jump, she turned to face him. "It's one of the few photo's in which she smiles."

"It's cute," Ginny told him, taking the glass of red wine that he held out to her. "How did you know –"

"I was only in the next room, I recognised your voice. I figured if I gave you some wine it might sweeten you up a little, making you less likely to shout at me again."

Ginny felt herself begin to flush and fought it back, "I'm sorry about before Draco, I just didn't want you ruining this for me."

"No, I should have controlled myself, you have a right to enjoy your engagement."

"Wow," Ginny said impressed as she sipped at her wine.

"What?" Draco asked, noting the teasing in her voice.

"There was nearly an 'I'm sorry' in there, but I guess two in two months would be a bit too much for you."

Draco faked offence. "I'll have you know, Miss Weasley, that I am often sorry, I just rarely feel the need to express remorse."

"Well then," she returned his superior tone easily. "I suppose I should be grateful that you feel it necessary to show it to me."

Draco sipped his wine, smirking over the glass at her, which merely made her narrow her eyes at him.

"You, Mister Malfoy, smirk too much for your own good."

His smirk just increased, infuriating her that tiny bit more.

"So, did you only come round to apologise and be dazzled by my face or was there another reason," he queried as he sat on a chair by the fireplace, motioning for her to do the same.

"Well, I did actually want to talk to you, too."

"About?"

"Everything." Draco frowned, but Ginny continued. "First of all why does it really bother you that Dean and I are giving it another go?"

"I told you already, he cheated on you and you went back to him. I don't understand how you could possibly go back to him."

"I love him, Draco, we've been over this. I love him and he makes me happy, it doesn't matter what he may or may not have done in his past, it's the future that matters."

"I've heard that before," Malfoy smirked but she pretended to ignore him, in fact, the only sign that she had heard him was a tint on her cheeks.

"Why does it bother you anyway?"

"You're getting dense again, Weaselette, we've been through this as well. Before he died, your precious husband put your well-being in my capable hands only he must have done some spell when he did because whenever you're feeling particularly happy or sad I get it in my head, too. That's how I knew something had happened when he cheated on you and when he proposed.

"I feel it in my head, Gin, and it must be five times worse than anything you feel because its crippling. You might think I'm being selfish, wanting to make sure you're making the right decision so that you don't get hurt and therefore I won't but it's more than that. Even if Harry hadn't done…whatever it was he did, I'd still be looking out for you Ginny."

There was gentleness in his voice and a slight tremor that came with it, and a softness in his eyes that Ginny had seen before but couldn't quite place. She gazed into those swirling grey orbs that usually hid so much but were currently showing a raging war of emotions.

"Why?" She asked in a rather breathless tone.

"Pardon?" He asked, not sure he had heard her.

"I asked you why, why would you still be looking out for me?"

"Isn't that obvious?" He asked, once more looking over the rim of his glass.

"Apparently not," she replied sarcastically.

"Oh well," he said, setting the glass aside. "You're a clever girl, you'll figure it out one day." He stood and headed as though to leave the room.

"Malfoy!" She cried after him, standing to go after him. Of course, she forgot she was holding a glass of wine and ended up spilling it over the hem of her blouse. "Shit!" She declared loudly making Malfoy stop and turn back.

"Weasley, you're meant to drink the wine, not pour it all over yourself, a mouth that big you think it'd be hard to miss."

"Shut it Malfoy, my blouse is going to be ruined, I need warm water now."

"Of course you do, bathroom's straight across the hall. Go soak your blouse and I'll find you a top to put on for now."

"Right," she said heading out of the room.

Draco watched her go before finding a t-shirt for Ginny to put on; Ginny entered the bathroom, too preoccupied to notice the enormity or grandeur of the room. It was only when her blouse lay submerged in a basin full of warm water and she, arms over her chest to give some protection from the cold, was waiting for a t-shirt that Ginny took the opportunity to look around at her surroundings.

The walls and the floors were varying shades of green and blue that meshed together perfectly. The 20 adult-berth paddling pool- sized bathtub was built into the centre of the floor, deeper at one end than the other, with many silver taps and fixtures round the edges to release water, bubble bath, body wash and the like. When it wasn't in use, like now, a glass cover went over the top to allow people to walk over it. Both the toilet and sink were set against the far wall.

A knock sounded on the door followed by, "Gin? I got you a top."

Ginny opened the door wide enough to let Draco get his hand through and peered through the gap. "Thanks," she said, taking it from him. She slipped it over her head and stepped out again.

Draco smiled as he surveyed her up and down appraisingly, "Suits you more than it ever did me."

"What?" Ginny looked down and smiled at the t-shirt she wore. Black with silver detail about Green Day on. "I thought you'd transformed this back," she whispered to him.

He shrugged, "Never got around to it."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_The day after he arrived at the Burrow, Draco was taken to an, even now, unknown location where he spent the next two weeks in a dimly lit room, let out only for interrogation. His wand was taken from him and meals served in his room, aside from his interviews the only company he had came in the form of one Ginny Weasley who was incredibly nervous around him._

_She was sent to take him his food and wait until he'd eaten it before bringing the tray, plate or bowl and cutlery back, the idea being that should he be inclined to terminate his existence the people to whom he had gone for help would not provide him with the tools to do so. Not that they expected him to try anything, it was more a safety precaution. Back to the point, Ginny would wait for him to finish eating in silence, ignoring his remarks of how disconcerting it was to eat with someone watching you._

_This continued for the first few days but Draco could see her cautious barrier was fast wearing thin. By the fourth day he managed to get her to answer simple questions, after a week she was talking in full sentences, they were almost conversing. As the second week wore on Ginny's stays in Draco's 'room' got longer as it took him more and more time to finish his meals. They were chatting like old friends, it seemed as though Ginny had forgotten he was meant to be the enemy, that he had been sent there under Snape's instruction. Snape! A traitor to the Order, the murderer of one of the most-loved men of the generation._

_Her seeming friendship with his charge did not go unnoticed by those around her, and no one seemed that enthusiastic about it. They still did not trust him, even after eight interrogations with Draco on his best behaviour as Damien. It was his final interrogation on the thirteenth day that seeded the smallest trace of trust in him. This was the one in which they thought to use Veritaserum._

_He was taken to the same room in which his other interviews had taken place and found himself face-to-face with the two who had been interviewing him up until now; Arthur Weasley and the man he knew to be Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody after his fourth year at Hogwarts. This time though there was another man with them a man he recognised but did not know._

_"I am Kingsley," he greeted loftily. "Misters Weasley and Moody you already know."_

_Draco nodded his confirmation._

_"Good," he almost smiled. "Please, Mr Nichols, take a seat, have a drink."_

_Draco, though suspicious at their sudden pleasantness knew better than to turn down their hospitality. He took the seat and graciously down most of the drink._

_"We've been doing a little background check on you, Mr Nichols, and it seems there is no mention of you anywhere."_

_"Really?" Draco tried to feign surprise but found he just couldn't manage it/_

_"Really," Kingsley answered him. "So tell us, who are you?"_

_"D...d…" Draco tried to fight the sudden urge he had to tell them his real identity but found it impossible to fight. "Draco Malfoy."_

_Kingsley remained stoic at hearing this but Arthur Weasley gasped in horror while Moody snarled and made moves as though to jump over the table._

_"Moody, stay!" Kingsley commanded._

_"A Malfoy, a traitor here! He helped kill Dumbledore, he should face the same."_

_"Be that as it may, he deserves a fair trial. We will not lower ourselves to his level." Kingsley directed this at Moody before turning back to Draco. "How did you get the Weasley's address? And what made you decide to go there."_

_"Snape," Draco answered. "Severus Snape, he gave me the address, he told me it would be a safe place to go. A place away from the Dark Lord."_

_"You received the Dark Mark, why would you want to hide from him?"_

_"I didn't want it, I was forced to join."_

_"What happened that night Dumbledore was killed?" Arthur Weasley spoke up for the first time._

_"My father had been raising me to join Voldemort's ranks since birth, by the time he was imprisoned it was too late for me to get out of it. I thought it was what I wanted, I'd never known any different but before I could join I had to do one thing to prove my allegiance. I had to kill Professor Dumbledore." Sorrow showed in Draco's eyes as he lowered his head and continued. "I put it off all year until I had to do it. Do you understand? I had to do it. So I waited until Snape told me it was time and I went to the tower._

_" I couldn't do it though, I tried, Merlin I had the wand out ready but the words just wouldn't come out of my mouth. That's when Snape stepped in for me. The Death Eaters were descending and my idiotic godfather had made and unbreakable vow with my mother to do protect me and do what I could not, so he did. He killed Dumbledore because I was too weak to."_

_"Not being able to murder a person is not a sign of weakness, far from it."_

_"You've obviously never had to deal with my father."_

_"Ah, yes, Lucius Malfoy. Tell me, what happened when Voldemort found out you hadn't killed Dumbledore."_

_"He knew straight away. After Snape and I escaped he we were taken to the camp, there I was able to make it up to him. I was to free the death eaters from Azkaban. Two months of planning and we succeeded. There was just one thing left to do."_

_"What was that, Malfoy?" Moody growled at him._

_"As a sign of trust and faith in the Dark Lord I had to watch as they brought my mother into the camp and heard as they told me about her betrayal and cheating on my father. I then had to watch as he tortured and raped her before my father finally killed her," though the details spilled freely from his mouth it was clear that, had he not been subjected to the veritaserum via his drink, Draco Malfoy would be less than willing to share this information. It wasn't just the tears in his eyes that gave this away._

_Arthur's eyes shone with sympathy for the young man before him and even Kingsley's gaze softened but still Moody looked suspicious, his magical eye stopped spinning round and targeted on Draco. It appeared to be searching him, as though looking for something._

_"You saw your mother killed by them and still you joined their ranks?" Moody snarled at him._

_Draco sniffed, "It's not like I had much choice. It's what I was raised for since birth. But what kind of person can do something like that? None, they're animals and after that I had no intention of joining them. My father, however, had other plans and that night I was welcomed as a death eater."_

_"Where did gaining the address of the Weasley's come into it?"_

_"It was that same night. I was by my mother's body when Severus arrived, he made me see that I had to get away and gave me the address. He said it would be a safe place for me to go to get away, so long as I didn't mention his name. I guess he was right, who would think to look for a Malfoy in the Weasley ho…home," he stopped himself from saying something cruel, he did still need somewhere to live after all. "Only, I forgot that I wasn't meant to mention Snape's name."_

_A glimmer of a smile crossed over Moody's face so quickly Draco wasn't really sure he'd seen it. Something Draco wasn't used to could be seen in Arthur and Kingsley; compassion._

_"I think we're done with the questioning aren't we gentlemen. This poor boy has obviously been through a lot."_

_"That sounds fine to me," Arthur nodded and both he and Kingsley turned to Moody to find his decision. Clearly outvoted the ex-Auror grudgingly nodded his agreement and Draco Malfoy was dismissed to be led back to his room._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Do you think if what had happened had never happened you'd still have come over to our side?" Ginny probed curiously during her second glass of wine.

Draco thought about it. For it not to have happened would mean he'd killed Dumbledore and, despite his upbringing and personal beliefs, Draco knew Dumbledore was a good man. A fool and an imbecile, perhaps, but he always did what he thought was best for the people, Draco wasn't sure he would be able to live with himself if he had killed the old man.

"I don't know, probably not. I mean, if they hadn't killed my mum, Snape would never have given me your address, I'd never have had the guts to escape and so I'd never have ended up at your place. If I hadn't ended up at your house you would never have been able to sway me over, would you?"

Ginny smiled, leaning back comfortably in her chair. "I think you would have," she told him sincerely.

"Really?"

"Yeah," she said with a hint of a smirk. "You're a good man, Draco, eventually you'd have realised the life you were born to uphold wasn't what fate had in store for you and you'd have used those giant brains of yours to track us down."

Draco raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at her. "I think the wine's gone to your head, Weasley."

"No, I just…we've known each other for nearly seven years and I'd say we know each other pretty well, wouldn't you? "

"Where is this going?" He asked, suspicion heavy in his voice.

"Hush," she leaned forward, slapping his leg playfully at his tone. "I was just thinking, you can read me better than anyone, I'd like to think I know you just as well, and you know most of my darkest secrets."

"Seriously, Weasley, what is your point here?"

"I want you to marry me, Draco."

"You're mental, Gin. I can't marry you."

"Give me one good reason why not."

"I'll give you several; your family, as much as they tolerate me, would kill me for even thinking about it; Dean would most likely hunt me down the second you told him and let's not forget that I'm not qualified."

"My family will accept it because I ask them to, the same goes for Dean, all they want is for me to be happy. And qualifications aren't a problem; the Ministry will allow it so long as you prove you know me."

"You seem to have thought a lot about this."

Ginny shrugged, "All girls dream of their wedding, and I've always hoped I'd be married by the one person who knew me better than anyone else. Its just my look that it'd be you who knows me best."

Draco smirked, "You didn't go through that with Potter did you, so why bother with Thomas?"

"My marriage to Harry lasted a grand total of seventeen minutes, you know that. We all knew he was dying, the ceremony was rushed, it took place in a hospital, for Merlin's sake! Nothing about it was how I would have liked but I wouldn't change a minute of it. That doesn't mean that this marriage, the one that will last the rest of my life, shouldn't be perfect."

"Then shouldn't you marry a man you love?" By now they were on their fourth glass of wine and slowly losing control of their inhibitions.

"Draco, don't start," though her voice was playful there was no mistaking the danger in it.

"You're right, you're right, don't want to spoil a wonderful evening."

"No, we don't," she agreed, downing the last of her glass. "I think it's time for me to go."

"No, don't," he pleaded, leaning forward and taking her hand in his, rubbing it gently. "Stay with me a little longer."

"I have to, Coco, Dean will be wondering where I am."

"He can wait a little longer, please, just for a dance."

"A dance?" Ginny giggled. "But there's no music."

"You're a witch, Ginny, your magic comes from belief and imagination. Imagine there's music."

This just mad her giggle more, never before had she heard him quite as passionate as he sounded right now.

"Okay," she said, standing and taking his outstretched hands as they swayed to silent music.

Throughout the whole four-minute dance, Draco stared down intently into her eyes, and she back up at him. It was as though every thought and feeling and emotion the two had were shared through their dance. It was these critical four minutes that made Ginny realise why Draco was so determined to make sure she was happy, and made Draco see why Ginny was so hell-bent on finding happiness with Dean. Truth was it all came down to love and respect for the other.

By unspoken agreement the two stopped their dance and separated, fingers interlinked, hands clasped together. Both were breathing heavily.

"Gin…" Draco began but trailed off at the look on her face.

"We can't do this, you know that. I have to go."

"Can I just…I need to give you something."

Ginny shook her head, and put a finger to his lips. "Trust that I know what I'm doing."

"I do, I don't understand but I trust you."

Ginny smiled and nodded at him, "You got any Floo powder for me today?" She asked impishly.

* * *

**A/N: Not bad, less than 2 weeks before an update. I'm sitting through what is possibly the cruelest heatwave ever so I can't be bothered checking it through for mistakes, so I apologise for any. Um...I don't really have much else to say, I'm not a fan of the chapter, it's a bit long consuidering nothing happens, I'm seriously wondering if anything's happened in any of them, its a bit boring. BUT! People are reading it and they seem to like it so I'll continue.  
Tell me what you think via Review...  
Rae**


	10. Weddings & Weasleys

**A/N: The last scene is a little graphic but kind of important to the plot. If you don't want to read it all though you only need to read the last 2 paragraphs to get the basic drift of it and its importance.

* * *

**

**Chapter 9**

After flooing away from Malstone Manor, Ginny stumbled through her own fireplace to find an irate Dean waiting for her.

"You took a while," he remarked coolly. "Malfoy been keeping you entertained has he?"

"As a matter of fact he has, but not like that."

"Really, then why are you wearing his shirt and not your own?" His arms were crossed over his chest in an accusing manner.

"I," she giggled a little. "You know how clumsy I can get, I spilt wine all over it."

"Convenient," he commented, his tone more chilling than she had ever heard.

Rather than be scared by it, Ginny found herself getting annoyed. She gave a small groan of frustration, "You're impossible to deal with when you're like this. I went to Draco's; we had some wine and chatted for a bit, I spilt the wine so went into the bathroom to change while he got me a new top. We talked and drank some more and I came home. That is all that happened. You've got to get over this, Dean."

"Get over what exactly?"

"This petty jealousy of yours. I'm not the kind of person who cheats, that's you remember?"

Dean glared at her for half a moment before raising his right hand as though to slap her. Ginny watched it, wide-eyed in terror as it began to descend clenching into a fist and stopping just millimetres from contact. She felt the wind brush her skin.

"How dare you?" She shouted at him. "How dare you raise your hand to me? I am your fiancée Dean, not a punching bag. Just because I said something you don't like does not give you the right to hit me."

"I know babe and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He sounded sincere enough; his eyes were blazing with surprise and horror at his actions.

"You're always sorry Dean, but what's the point in being sorry when you just do it over and over again anyway?"

"Babe, it'll never happen again, I swear it. Please, forgive me."

Ginny looked deeply at him for what felt like hours but lasted no more than half a minute. "I'm going to bed." Dean made a move towards her but she held her hands up to stop him. "Don't, don't touch me and don't follow me. You can sleep out here." And she walked away from him, closing the door to the bedroom quietly.

The second the door acted as a barrier between them Ginny sank to the floor; knees pulled up tight to her chest and buried her head in them. Her hands ran through her hair a few times but despite the mixture of feelings she had bottled up inside her, the tears welling up in her wouldn't fall, couldn't fall.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_There was a knock on the door to Draco's room before it opened and Ginny's head appeared._

_"Hey, can I come in?" She asked brightly, a perfect smile plastered on her face._

_Draco, sat on the floor leaning against a wall, stared at her as though she were crazy. "Why would you want to do that?"_

_He saw the visible portion of her shoulder move in what he assumed was a shrug, "Why not?"_

_"Are you crazy, she-weasel? I'm the big bad Draco Malfoy. I'm surprised they'd even let you near me, anyway." He sounded rather bitter as he pointed this out to her._

_She shrugged again, this time he saw it all as she stepped into the room, closing the door behind her, she sat opposite him at the other side of the room. "They didn't want me to but like I told them, I've been alone with you plenty of times already, if you were going to try something you'd have done it already."_

_"But then I was Damien Nichols, now everyone knows who I am there's no point in pretending, is there?"_

_To his surprise she began to giggle, "I already knew who you were."_

_"Huh?" He gave her a similar 'you're crazy' look to previously._

_"You can change your hair, your clothes, your attitude but you can't change your eyes."_

_"My eyes gave me away?" He asked doubtfully. "There's got to be thousands of people in the world with grey eyes."_

_Ginny nodded, "Probably but not all of them have those tiny flecks of icy blue in. Add to that the dark mark, the snobby voice and the holier-than-thou attitude it's not hard to work it out."_

_"You're lying," he accused lightly, noting the teasing in her voice._

_She laughed, "Just because no one else in my family is smart enough to pick up on these things doesn't mean I'm not."_

_Draco made an incoherent sound that made Ginny laugh more._

_"Oh, hey, do you want to look like yourself again?"_

_Draco nodded, "But you're underage, you can't do magic."_

_Ginny shrugged, "War's raging on outside, Malfoy. Who's going to be that bothered if I do a little hair lengthening and colour changing spell?_

_Draco considered this, "You always had that rebellious streak, Weaselette?"_

_"Pretty much," she nodded, slipping a hand inside her jacket to pull out her wand. "Do you want me to or not?"_

_Draco hesitated, whether she knew who he was before or not, she knew for certain now. Just because he'd gone to her side for help didn't mean he didn't still cling to the illusions of his life up to this point, she knew it just as well as he did. Could he honestly guarantee that she wouldn't try anything? She noticed his hesitation and shrugged._

_"Suit yourself, I'll have Moody do it instead, shall I?" She flashed him a mocking grin._

_He winced and shut his eyes. "Fine, you do it!"_

_She giggled, there was almost fear in his voice. She waved her wand and his hair changed back to its original platinum blonde colour, another wave and he could feel it grow at super-speed. Shorter than it was but still moderately long, Draco admired his hair with satisfaction._

_"Not bad," he commented, running a hand down the bang-like strands that fell onto the left side of his face, stopping just short of his eye._

_Ginny smiled and found herself crawling closer to him._

_"What?" He frowned whilst simultaneously raising a brow in curiosity._

_She stopped in front of him, putting her hand to the right side of his head, brushing strands of his hair down from their place behind his ear. With a quick flick the hair fell to the same place on the right side as it were on the left. "Much better," she smiled, not moving her hand away._

_The two teenagers shared a shy look as they leant in towards each other. The moment they shared was shattered though as the door opened, hitting the wall with a resounding slam. They sprang apart and fortunately, despite looking suspicious, Moody appeared not to have noticed the scene he'd just disturbed, he looked suspicious most times after all._

_"Your brother's here, Miss Weasley," he growled. "They're in the dining room. Malfoy's wanted as well."_

_He turned and walked, leading them to the room. Ginny followed dutifully, Draco beside her._

_"They?" He whispered to her quietly, hoping Moody couldn't hear._

_At this Ginny grinned. "Ron, Hermione and Harry," unconsciously her speed quickened._

_"Oh, fantastic," Draco muttered sarcasticallyunder his breath, rather pointedly his speed slowed down._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The day after Dean was as sweet as one of Molly's blueberry pies to Ginny and apologetic for his actions with it. It took Ginny all of three hours to accept his apology although she was obviously still shaken by his actions, which explained why he was hesitant to get too close and took the day off work to pamper his fiancée. By the end of that night they were back to sharing the bed, by the end of the next night the night time exercise Dean expected had returned. On the third day it was as though Dean had never nearly hurt Ginny and she never told anyone about it. Even Draco, who Ginny knew would have 'sensed' her fear, anger and upset had the psychic connection he claimed existed been real, had left her alone since that night. She was somewhat surprised to find herself missing his company and the infuriating mannerisms it entailed.

By the time Thursday rolled around Dean had forgotten anything had happened and Ginny was pretending nothing had so that when the time came to go to dinner at the Burrow no one could sense any friction between the happy couple.

"Oh, my baby!" Molly cried immediately engulfing her daughter in hugs and kisses before smothering Dean in a similar way.

Ginny refrained from rolling her eyes at her mother's behaviour. "Mum, calm down," she scolded.

Molly had the decency to look embarrassed as she pulled away from Dean. "Sorry, I'm just so excited for you both. I've been looking for some ideas and there's a beautiful dress in Madam Malkins."

"And what's that like?" Ginny asked, humouring her mother but already envisioning a hideously puffy and lacy dress. Dean, sensing the conversation would do anything but interest him, left the kitchen to track down a male Weasley who would most probably be habiting the house.

"It's white, obviously, floor length with inch-wide straps. It's quite form-fitting but will cover all of your…" here Molly coughed, "modesty. The skirt of the dress is bell-shaped with ruffles of lace around it. The top is silk with a lace hem."

Ginny tried to hide her horror at the sound of the dress, "I'll keep a look out for it," she said sincerely while thinking, so I can avoid it like the plague.

"Oh good," Molly smiled, too preoccupied with her cooking to notice the less than one percent sarcasm that tainted her daughters tone.

"So where is everyone?" Ginny asked, moving to stir a pan of pasta her mother had neglected.

"Oh, the boys are all outside doing Merlin only knows what, everyone else is in the living room." Everyone else being, of course, the women and children.

"Why aren't they –"

"Leave that pan alone!" Molly cried at her daughter. "You'll ruin the pasta if you stir it too early."

"Well I guess that answers why they're not in here," Ginny muttered. "I'll just go…" She entered the living room to be greeted by knowing faces.

"I tried to stir the pasta," Hermione announced, looking up from the novel in her hands.

"Me too," Ella, Charlie's girlfriend supported.

"And me," Fleur supplied.

The other ladies in the room nodded making Ginny roll her eyes at her mother but smile at the same time, "That woman is far too protective of the pasta!" She announced, earning a few laughs.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_"But how do we know we can trust him?" Ron Weasley asked for the fifth time in the half hour this debate had gone on for._

_"He passed the veritaserum test," Arthur said wearily, this was at least the sixth time this had been pointed out._

_"But he's a death eater, they're trained to lie."_

_"No one can lie once they've taken veritaserum, Ron." Hermione pointed out gently._

_"Unless they've taken a counter potion." Draco piped up for the first time since he'd entered the dining room._

_He was sat on the floor in the corner of the room whilst every member of the Weasley family (minus Percy), Moody and Kingsley either sat or stood around the table at the other side. In fact, the only person near him was Ginny, and that wasn't through lack of trying to get her away on the others' part. Potter's in particular who seemed to detest the way in which the young woman stood to defend the traitorous murderer._

_"You're not helping yourself," Ginny hissed at him barely audibly._

_Hermione pursed her lips at his interruption. "Right, but there isn't a counter potion in existence that lasts more than a week, veritaserum was used two weeks after he arrived at the Burrow. Malfoy has had no access to any of his belongings and Ginny is the only one who has been in his room, she wouldn't give him any counter potion. I doubt she even has access to one or the ingredients needed to make one."_

_"And you thought I wasn't helping myself," Draco half-sneered, half-teased Ginny. "Miss Know-it-all has just proved I couldn't have used a counter potion." In response Ginny hit his arm playfully._

_Her actions earned them several looks of disapproval and a death glare aimed at Draco from Harry._

_Still watching them closely, Harry spoke. "What if he had it hidden somewhere? Malfoy's a sneaky little git, he could easily have concealed it somewhere." He knew it was unlikely but he had to be sure. Kingsley was the one who answered him._

_"There are several flaws with that argument, first Malfoy was very closely searched before brought here, second he and his friends have no way of knowing where here is. Then there's the fact that he didn't know if or when veritaserum would be used, he'd have to take a guess and hope for the best. And his story checks out; Narcissa is dead, her body was found a month ago floating in a muggle river. Sneaky git he may be but Malfoy gains nothing from telling us his story, whether it be true or not, and I believe it is true."_

_"As do I," Arthur rose from his seat and stood with Kingsley._

_"Well I still think it's a load of bull," Ron crossed his arms defiantly across his chest._

_Frowning, Harry spoke, "I don't trust him."_

_"Neither do I," Bill and Charlie said simultaneously._

_"I don't like him," Hermione said. "But I believe he's telling the truth."_

_"Hermione!" Ron gasped in surprise._

_"I theenk 'Ermionee eez right," Fleur spoke up. Since Bill's attack and their subsequent marriage Fleur had insisted on staying with her husband at all times, which meant she was dragged into this tiring debate of whether Draco could be trusted to be telling the truth or not._

_"Fleur!" Bill declared remarkably similarly to his youngest brother._

_"I pity him for the loss of his mother, I truly do but he is still a Malfoy and he is still a death eater. He may well be telling the truth but I cannot trust it enough to endanger my family's safety."_

_"We disagree," George announced, surprising all for he and Fred were glaring the most at Draco._

_"As masters of trickery and false truths we understand the importance of a good lie," Fred continued. "A skill we have passed on to our dearest sister."_

_"And he," George pointed at Draco. "Could never use such an unlikely story and convince her it was the truth unless it actually were."_

_"Barking mad!" Moody growled at the twins. "He's lying and if you believe him you'll live only to regret it."_

_With an even split amongst the adults the argument started up again._

_"What would happen to me if the majority didn't believe me?" Draco asked Ginny quietly._

_Ginny paled slightly but stayed silent._

_"I doubt it could be anything worse than what he will do if he finds me, it would just me good to have a little warning."_

_Still Ginny remained silent, making Draco sigh._

_"I suppose, of course, that they'll do this all over again with another vote? And we'll end up with another tie because the French one will side with the longhaired guy but then your mother will agree with your father. If only there was someone else to act as a decider."_

_Ginny snapped, realising what he was blathering on about. She stood up, trying to get the warring groups attention. "Guys! Hey guys!" Her shouts went unnoticed though. After a few moments she gave way to sheer desperation and put her thumb and finger in her mouth and blew, resulting in a long, shrill whistle that soon stopped them long enough to realise she was still there. She gave them a fake sweet smile._

_"Do I get a say in this? Because last time I checked I was just as part of this family as you lot. In fact, four of you aren't even blood related and you got to have a say."_

_"You're a little young," Molly replied. "And your…acquaintance with the boy is clouding your judgement."_

_"I'm one year younger than Ron!" Ginny argued, fully prepared for the fight they showed signs of putting up. "And my 'acquaintance' means I'm the only one here that's gotten to know Malfoy."_

_Molly opened her mouth to say something but Hermione got there first with her intrigued and voice-of-reason part. "Go ahead, Gin."_

_"Before you used the veritaserum, before you knew he was Draco Malfoy, you were starting to believe him, I know you were. I spoke to him; I believe he was telling the truth before. The veritaserum just proves he was, right? The only reason we're having this conversation is because you found out who he really was. You say talking to him has clouded my judgement but petty family feuds is clouding yours."_

_"This is why you're too young," Molly snapped. "It's not as simple as all that."_

_"Yes, it is."_

_"No, it's not."_

_"Yes, it is," rather than angry, Ginny sounded purely frustrated. "I'm not quite as clueless as you all think, you know. I know you've spoken to Snape, I know he's explained Dumbledore's death and that it corroborates Malfoy's story. That you let him go again. So why when the veritaserum tells me he's telling the truth and Narcissa being dead tells me he's telling the truth do you still not trust Malfoy? But Snape, the man who Harry admits actually killed Dumbledore, you just let walk free." By the end of this rant Ginny was breathing hard, her hands clenched and unclenched at her side._

_"Ginny, how do you know all this?" Bill asked her gently._

_"That's what you pick up on in all of that?" Draco sneered in amazement at the stupidity of Weasley's up close. Ginny shot him a look to shut up and he did instantly._

_"It doesn't matter," she answered. Just like it doesn't matter what he may or may not have done in his past, it's the future that matters. He came to us, remember? He wants to make amends." She turned to her mother and gave her a rather pointed look. "It_ is _that simple."_

_That said Ginny left the dining room with all the grace and honour one can when they argue with half of their family to protect said family's enemy so strongly that it actually leaves them thinking if maybe, just maybe, they are wrong after all. Of course, she didn't realise she'd left every member of the room wondering just when she'd become so grown up and tough enough to argue her point so strongly in the first place._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"This food smells delicious, Mrs Weasley," Dean flattered the Weasley matriarch. "And I'm sure it will taste it, too, as always."

Mrs Weasley beamed at the young man, motioning for he and the others to sit. She pretended not to notice the twins as they made scornful actions at Dean's obvious sucking-up, though she did give them a warning glare. All sat around the table, the Weasley's and they're guests began to eat their meal with the normal companionable chatter.

"My, I think we'll need a bigger table soon, what with Gin and Dean getting married and another grandchild on the way," Molly looked over at Bill with a smile before giving her other children helpless looks as though to say 'when will your children be coming?'

"Oh, the wedding," Ella declared as she cut delicately at a potato. "Have you two set a date yet?"

"No," Dean said immediately, giving a contradicting answer to that given by Ginny.

"I was thinking October twenty-seventh."

The reaction to this news was instantaneous. Molly drew in breath, pinching her lips together tightly, the forks of Ron, Hermione, Bill and Fred clattered on their plates with such force it was a miracle the plates didn't smash. Fleur, Charlie and George stared at Ginny, mouths open in amazement while Arthur cleared his throat in a way that told them he had something to say but it could be saved until later. Apart from the children, Ella, Dean and Fred and George's current girlfriends Amy and Julie were the only ones not to understand the significance of the date. The tension caused by the announcement did not go unnoticed though and Dean spoke in hopes of calming the situation about what he thought the problem was.

"Gin, don't you think that's a little soon?"

Ginny, either not noticing or not caring about the tension, laughed at him. "It's two months away, and we've been together for five years, Dean. We know this is it so why wait?"

Dean looked nervous at this question and Ella shot him a curious glance before excusing herself for the bathroom. "We don't have to wait forever, maybe just a few more months so we can get used to the idea of being engaged first."

Arthur let out another cough, this time signalling he wanted to speak immediately. "Dean's right, perhaps October isn't the best time. How about December? You always wanted a Christmas wedding when you were little."

Ginny wrinkled her nose in disgust, "That is so clichéd." She turned to Dean with her best puppy-dog pleading pout. "Come on babe, October twenty-seventh. Please?" As she asked him she ran her hand, which had been placed securely on his knee, very slowly and seductively up his leg towards his crotch area. She could feel his jeans tightening beneath her touch the higher she got until she reached the bulge she had hoped to find. Once there she quietly undid the zip and slipped her hand inside. Her fingers danced lightly to-and-fro, "For me."

"Whatever you want, baby," he choked out hoarsely before hastily excusing himself and running from the room faster than anything anyone had ever seen.

With a satisfied smirk reminiscent of a certain Slytherin, Ginny turned her attention back to her meal.

"Ginny that date…" Bill began cautiously. "It wouldn't be proper, it being the same day that he –"

"Draco," Ginny interrupted him. "His name is Draco and I am well aware it is the same day he arrived at this house but that does not mean it can't be used as a celebration, does it?"

"Of course it doesn't but would you really want to celebrate on a day that reminds you of the great git."

"His coming here was the best thing that could have happened for us. He helped us to win the war, or have you all forgotten that? If _I_ choose to have _my_ wedding then that is _my_ decision, not yours, and you will all do well to remember that."

The kitchen fell into an eerie quiet after that, a moment later Ella reappeared. She seemed flustered but that was easily attributable to overhearing the argument that just occurred and then having to walk into its icy aftermath. Slowly conversation started up again, though it kept away from any talk of weddings. Fifteen minutes after Ella reappeared, Dean entered the kitchen looking and feeling far more at ease than when he had left.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When Ginny and Dean returned to the flat that night, Ginny was fully prepared for the onslaught of kisses that hit her lips and jaw and trailed right down her neck to her collarbone. She expected the strong hands that slid up her legs to grip her waist before picking her up and setting her upright on the kitchen table while their owner settled himself between her legs. She knew the hands would then wander to her top where they would expertly take it off in one swift movement before the lips would move lower and part around her belly button, the tongue slowly licking it. She'd already accepted that the lips would return to hers and the hands would amuse themselves with her breasts for a few minutes while she did her part.

What did come as a surprise though was that when she went to take off his shirt he stopped her, returning them to around his neck. She moved them to begin unfastening his jeans and he once again stopped her. Even more of a surprise was that when she brought her naked knee inside his legs and ran it along his crotch playfully he did the usual playful bite on her breast, though a little harder than normal, but did not react in any other way. His refusals of her advances were driving her crazy, especially when she let him conduct their usual foreplay to his heart's content. She had one last plan.

She slid off the tabletop, falling to her knees before him. She had done this only once before, finding it a tremendous turnoff for herself but knowing it to be one of his desires, and why should she be the only one so incredibly turned on at this moment in time? He allowed her to undo his jeans and push them and his boxer shorts down but as she went to make her move on his semi-erect penis, he held a hand to her forehead, preventing her from getting any closer. He bent down and collected his jeans, replacing them on his waist before bending down once more and picking Ginny up again. He slung her over his shoulder fireman-style and carried her to the bedroom where he deposited her not so gently on the bed.

He licked her bully button again this time moving kisses lower, pulling her skirt down as he went. He reached her pelvis and rubbed his hands up and down the insides of her legs, his fingers playing gently across her vagina.

"Do it!" She cried gutturally. "Dean, do it now!" She begged.

She felt his fingers stop playing and him shift, leaning down and applying pressure where she most desperately wanted him inside her. She ran her fingers through his hair, "Dean, do it now!" But she never felt him enter her; she looked up at him in confusion to find him smirking down at her.

He leant in, putting his lips beside her ear and whispered. "Not tonight baby, I just wanted you to know how it felt to get so turned on but having nothing happen. If you ever try a stunt like you did tonight again then Merlin alone can help you."

And with that he jumped away, stripped off his clothes and lay down beside her. He fell asleep soundly leaving her naked and feeling used and ashamed at her behaviour. Mostly though she was surprised that he had the restraint to do all that but stop himself before he carried the act through, maybe he had changed after all, and if he had she was definitely making the right decision staying with him.

* * *

**A/N: I know, another one, I can just feel your excitement! I just want to make a couple of things clear though: First off, I have never been a victim of abuse but going off things I have read and seen on TV Ginny's reaction seems pretty reasonable to me. However, if you don't agree tell me how you think it should be and I'll consider changing it.**

**Second, I want to warn you, next chapter might be one long flashback, but it will be the last flashback if it is. It depends how long it ends up. If it is less than 7 pages I'll put proper chapter in there, too. If it's more you'll have to wait for the final chapter before the prologue.**

**Anyway, this is getting long again so I'm just going to say the usual thing: Let me know what you think of the chapter.**

**Also, I wonder if anyone's picked up on a little bit of a plot twist…**

**Rae :D**


	11. Flashback Fun

**A/N: Just incase you couldn't tell, this chapter is entirely flashbacks.

* * *

**

**Chapter 10**

_"What were you hoping to gain by coming here, ferret?" Ronald Weasley glared at the young man before him._

_His face was burning with anger at the near unanimous decision to allow Malfoy to stay in the company of the Weasley's since it was clear it wasn't safe for him to return to Voldemort. This decision was reached after Ginny's outburst, which had helped sway Molly, Bill, Charlie and surprisingly, or maybe not considering who had made the outburst, Harry over to those in support of keeping Malfoy safe. Only Ron and Moody were vehemently against the decision, though there were those who, despite agreeing to help him, were still loathe totrust a Malfoy. That is not to say that Malfoy was particularly happy about the result either. If given the choice between living under the protection of the muggle-loving, blood traitor Weasley's for Merlin only knew how long or returning to Lord Voldemort with his tail between his legs ready to accept whatever punishment awaited him, Draco wasn't so sure he wouldn't have picked the latter. Fortunately that decision had little to do with him._

_"Well, I had been hoping you and Potter would be gone a little longer so as to give me a little time alone with your sister," Draco sneered as response to the Weasel King's question._

_"You bastard!" Ron declared, advancing quickly on Malfoy, ready to deliver a suitable physical retaliation._

_"Ron, stop!" Harry and Hermione cried simultaneously._

_They moved to stop him but Ginny got there first, placing herself in front of Draco to act as a protective barrier. Ron's fist stopped just millimetres from his sister's face._

_"Move out of the way, Gin," Ron demanded menacingly._

_"What are you going to do, Weasel? Hit me? Go ahead, I bet your mudblood girlfriend packs a harder punch."_

_Ginny sent a glare at Draco over her shoulder, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" She asked with her back to him as she still faced Ron._

_"And miss the sight of your perfect little arse? I think not."_

_"Draco," she warned, hearing both Ron and Harry growl._

_"What?" He asked innocently. "You didn't mind when I complemented it the other night. When we were in my room. Alone."_

_"I mean it Ginny, get out of the way."_

_"Oh, just ignore him Ron, he's just trying to wind you up." Even though her voice held the conviction it deserved there was no denying the blush that had crept across Ginny's cheeks and ears._

_"That's right, I wind you up but Ginny winds me up, often to the point of distraction." Draco commented lightly, his smirk hidden behind Ginny._

_The aforementioned finally spun to face him with a glare at his smirk, even though her eyes showed amusement at his words. "If you don't shut up right now I might just let Ron have free reign on you."_

_"I thought we proved the other night that I'm not that way inclined," Draco continued, apparently not picking up on the warning in her tone._

_Her hand flew out and cuffed him round the back of the head, "Quit it!"_

_Smirking Draco finally shut up. With a pointed glance in Ron and Harry's directions to ensure they were paying attention he allowed his eyes to roam freely and casually over Ginny's body, taking in every curve. Ginny didn't notice as she had turned back around and was trying to scold Ron for falling so easily for Draco's teasing. Ron and Harry definitely did, the former of who struggled not to reach out and punch the guy senseless while the latter took controlling breaths, mentally reminding himself that he no longer held a claim on Ginny and even if he did, Malfoy was just winding them up. Hermione watched them all in frustration, rolling her eyes at their behaviour._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_November passed and Christmas was soon upon them but that couldn't have been further from anyone's minds. Outside the war was raging steadily between Voldemort and his forces and the Wizarding World's most public defence; the Ministry of Magic's Auror and Strategical Combat Departments. Voldemort was winning, his power and control slowly gaining. The Ministry was all-but a distant memory of how the world once was, with the loss of such power, as fleeting and superficial as it was, was the steady decrease of hope amongst the Wizarding community. Many, faced with the choice of fighting and dying or joining Voldemort and living, no matter how much they detested him and what he stood for, chose to join him. The cowards' choice it may have been, but no one who chose otherwise could really blame them._

_Those who went against Voldemort were either tortured to the point of insanity or killed. Those few who managed to escape were approached to join the Order. Steadily their numbers grew and by Christmas both sides knew. One way or another, the war would be over soon._

_"I know it's not really the best time for Christmas," Molly Weasley addressed the crowd of Order members with the use of a Sonorous charm to reach all thousand attendees. This number was barely a percentage of those willing to fight for their world but it was those members without a family to spend the day with, and it was something to see them all coming together. "But, with times as they are, and with our part of the fight approaching I thought we should try to have just one day of happiness. Without having to worry about anything. So enjoy today because soon it'll all be over."_

_There were no gifts shared as was customary on this day, nor was there a grand feast but the cheer was in such abundance even Voldemort himself would have found it difficult to stay immune to its contagiousness. Colin Creevey, a friend of Ginny's from Hogwarts, was present and insisted on taking as many photos as possible for the survivors to cherish once it was all over. Normally the over-excitable boy would have had difficulty getting people to cooperate but on this day no one seemed to mind. By the time he reached Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood the news of what he was doing had spread and they were more than eager to do as he wanted._

_"Wait," Ginny said as they arranged themselves. "Someone's missing."_

_Harry looked around confused, "Who?"_

_Ginny ignored him though as she scanned the crowd for the telltale flash of platinum blonde. Seeing it she set off in its direction. As she went to retrieve a sullen Draco from the corner of the room knowing full well she would receive opposition once she got him back there, Colin took a few photos of the others. There was the typical group one of the trio, and one of Ron and Hermione together, then one of Harry and Ron. Neville and Luna posed for a couple of photos before Ginny reappeared with a very grudging Draco in tow. He earned the expected glare from Ron and Harry, and a squeak of nervousness from Neville but no one argued his being there._

_The seven of them stood tall and proud; Harry and Ron placed their arms over each other's shoulders while Hermione nestled between them, taking Ron's free hand in her own. In front of them stood Luna, Ginny, Draco and Neville, grinning happily at the camera; even Draco had dropped his customary smirk for a real smile. He was stood a little too close to Ginny for Harry's liking, as though to show this he gave the blonde man a jealous glance before he, too, smiled for the camera._

_After the photo was taken there were six final shots, single ones of Ginny with her arms around the neck of her companion in a friendly hug from the side. Luna first, then Ron, Hermione, Neville, then Harry and finally Draco. All the shots were the same except for the last. This one had Draco's hand cupped on her waist in a rather protective manner and Ginny's smile was just that tiniest bit brighter as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. Still perfectly innocent but easily misconstrued for something else, it was enough to shock a certain someone into action._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_It was later that evening that he did it. Not wanting to wait another moment, Harry Potter tracked down Ginny Weasley to find her, surprise surprise, in the company of Draco Malfoy._

_"Hey, Gin, can I talk to you a minute?" Beneath his confident exterior nervousness lurked._

_"Sure, I'll be right out, ok?"_

_Harry nodded and waited outside as Ginny followed a whispered conversation with Malfoy, closing the door behind her when she exited._

_"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"_

_"Not here," he answered, shooting a glance at the closed door to Draco's room. "Come for a walk with me?"_

_Ginny shrugged and followed him as he led her further into headquarters. Finally he reached a door and opened it, motioning for her to enter._

_"Your room? Harry what are you up to?"_

_"Just sit," he instructed as he began pacing nervously._

_"You know when we broke up? And I said it was to protect you so you wouldn't get hurt?"_

_Ginny nodded, frowning a little._

_"Well I'd say it worked pretty well, wouldn't you? I mean, we're nearly at the end of this blasted war and you've remained unscathed."_

_Ginny nodded again, Is he going to take it back? She thought hopefully._

_"Well then I want to ask you, right here and now," he stopped pacing and bent down on one knee. "If we get through this thing alive will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"_

_She stared at him, her mouth opening and closing in a perfect imitation of a fish in her shock._

_"I know I don't have a ring or anything but we can sort all that out when it's over, right?"_

_Ginny nodded dumbly._

_"Is that a yes? Ginny, say something!"_

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_"So what did Scarhead want?" Draco asked not taking his eyes off the book Ginny had found for him._

_"He…uh…he wanted to marry me."_

_"Excuse me?" Draco looked up in astonishment._

_"He asked me to marry him," she repeated more clearly._

_"What did he say when you said no?"_

_"Nothing," she answered, still numb from the shock of it all. "Because I haven't given him an answer yet."_

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_"Today we go into battle," Harry addressed every member of the Order of the Phoenix, there were now some 20,000 people present compared to the 1,000 from just 3 days before at Christmas. "I'm not going to pretend it will be easy, it's going to be difficult as hell but we've been training for this and we can do it. Voldemort has held his grip of power over this world for too long. The Ministry have tried to stop him but their forces are weakening and it is time for us to step up. The plan is as follows…"_

_Ginny tuned out, there didn't seem much point in listening when she had been forbidden from fighting anyway, she was only there as a show of support for her family and friends. Anyone under 18, with the exception of the trio, was banned from partaking in the War as they lacked the "necessary skills" to fight the dark wizards. Ginny felt this was unfair since she had learnt everything that the Golden Trio had and was, even in her moping opinion, a much better witch than her brother was a wizard, sometimes better than Harry was, too. And yet they still would not let her fight._

_With a bored sigh she let her eyes roam the large hall, magically adapted to fit everyone, in which they all stood. Everyone stared up at the large platform on which Harry stood with Hermione, Ron and the more prominent Order members, all listening to Harry's Sonorused voice as his words of wisdom spread across the Quidditch-World-Cup-fan sized gathering. Everyone but one person; Ginny watched as a platinum blonde head of hair swivelled on her left, revealing a face with two grey eyes that rolled when they caught her watching. She returned the playful smirk on his face before moving her head in a motion for him to follow her through the exit of the room._

_"My, my," she heard his voice drawl after her. "I never thought I'd see the day when the Weaselette would skip the Golden Boy's war speech to spend time with the big bad Malfoy."_

_Resisting the grin that threatened to break out, Ginny took a deep, steadying breath before turning around. "A lot of people didn't expect the day, ferret, but you're the only other person in that room who wasn't lapping up that pompous prats words, thought you might like to get away."_

_"Pompous prat? Hardly nice words about your fiancé, are they?"_

_"Well what would you call it? He's got the whole room hanging on his every word and he loves every second of it. Seems rather pompous to me, and besides, he's not my fiancé."_

_Draco smirked, "Ah but he's always been like that, even in Hogwarts. All that fame they just kept throwing at him only made him worse, it's amazing he can fit through doorways with an ego that size."_

_Ginny giggled, "You're one to talk."_

_He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side in confusion, "What do you mean?"_

_"Well that coming from the guy who takes great delights in being known as the Slytherin sex god."_

_Rather than looking offended, Draco showed amusement at her reference. "I'll have you know that is a name well earned."_

_"Really?" She cast her eyes over him slowly before realising what she was doing and looking down to hide the blush creeping over her._

_Draco advanced on her, making her stumble backwards into the wall. He placed one hand flat on the wall above her shoulder, applying pressure to it as he leant, using his free hand to lift her chin. Her tint was lightening but her eyes were still cast downwards, "Look at me," he whispered into her ear. She was hesitating, he could tell, "Look at me," he urged again. Slowly her eyes lifted to meet his. "You're so beautiful when you blush," this only made her flush a deep crimson, of course, and she tried to lower her head once more but this time he held fast on her chin. "Don't fight me," he continued to whisper in her ear as he moved his hand from her chin to her cheek and trailed it slowly down her chin and collarbone._

_"Wh…what are y-y-you d-doing?" she stammered out, her breathing heavy as her heart raced._

_"Nothing," he whispered seductively between nibbles of her earlobe, his free hand continuing to trail down, giving her breast a tight squeeze, eliciting a gasp from her, as it carried on down resting at the hem of her skirt ponderingly. He kissed her softly before steadily increasing the pressure._

_Ginny took a split second to decide what to do before responding to his kiss and his intensity increased so did the currents of pleasure that ran through her. She pulled him close to her and, pinned against the wall with his hands everywhere; up and down her torso, nudging her breasts under her bra, rubbing between her legs, her skin tingling at his very touch she was quite sure she had never felt anything like this before. Pleasure, desire, want, need, it all mingled together; surely it couldn't get any better than this?_

_Draco kissed her neck to distract her as his hands slipped between her legs, under her skirt and rubbed the bottom of her lacy knickers He smirked against her neck when he realised she was wearing a thong. She felt as he rubbed, moaning as he did, felt his own growing desire as he pushed against her. She did nothing to stop him as he began to slip his hand under her thong. She would, consumed by the intensity of the feelings she felt at that very minute, have let him take her right then and there despite the slight feelings of guilt at the back of her mind. Why though? She asked herself, he was the son of her family's enemy but he was her friend and it did feel right and it wasn't like she had agreed to marry Harry, they weren't even seeing each other._

_Thoughts of guilt could not stop her though, especially as she felt his finger slip inside her and thrust upwards then down, upwards then down, only to be joined by a second finger soon after. Merlin, the things he was doing to her. Caught in the moment the only thing that made her pause long enough to realise where she was, who with and what they were doing was the sound of cheering in the very next room._

_Harry!_

_Regretfully she pushed him away from her, holding his arm to make him cease the actions that, if continued, would only drive her back to him. "We can't…Harry…"_

_Draco's face darkened considerably. "He's not your boyfriend, Ginny, and you're not engaged, you're a free agent. There is no reason to feel guilty."_

_She nodded, "But I do. I don't expect you to understand but he expects me to say yes, my family expect me to say yes. The whole damn world expects me to say yes, hell, Draco, I should want to say yes."_

_"But you don't," he observed but posed it as more of a question than a statement._

_"I don't…I don't feel that way about him any more. But you and I…it would never work, you know that. These last few months have been great, just spending time with you, getting to know the real you. And if everything wasn't like it is…" She choked back a sob but a lone tear escaped, which Draco hastily wiped from her cheek, leaving his palm on her cheek. "If everything wasn't like it is then maybe but it is and if we get through this war then it's my duty to marry him. I don't expect you to understand," she repeated, looking up at him sadly. "But it's my duty."_

_He just stared at her, a mixture of understanding and disbelief. "It was my duty to become a death eater," he said quietly. "Sometimes though it's better for us to be selfish rather than do what's expected."_

_And with that said he turned away from her and walked back towards the large hall. She called after him but he ignored her, slipping in unnoticed amongst the drones listening to Harry._

_"Draco," she whispered once before she allowed the tears to shed, sliding to the floor in her misery._

- o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o -

_What remained of the Ministry had done some work on reducing the Death Eater numbers but these were only lower members, dispensable skivvies the Dark Lord had sent to test their mettle. His most valued minions were spared such menial jobs, saved for this, the Final Battle. Not that it was particularly final, or much of a battle for that matter. A series of mini ones, perhaps, that had thus far spanned nine weeks, not that anyone really noticed. They had been fighting for so long and so much blood had been spilt that the days seemed never ending and the people were beginning to all blend into one; it was not terribly uncommon to find people of the same side fighting amongst themselves out of confusion._

_Just as they had been over whether or not to trust him, the members of the Order of the Phoenix were divided over whether or not to let him fight. Without Ginny to offer support that he could be trusted to fight, and would be safe if he did so, the Order, under Harry's advisement, ruled that it was in everyone's best interests if Draco stayed out of the fighting. However, it was when he became aware of the running away of Ginny that Draco no longer accepted his prisoner status. Surprisingly calm, he took out the Order "guard" stationed at his room muggle-style before making his way undetected to the room in which his wand was being held and so it was that on the third day of the third week, Draco Malfoy entered the war. He kept his aim simple; find Ginny and be damned with anyone who stood in his way. This plan was working quite well, guilt over his attitude towards Ginny when she turned him down drove him wild. He had taken out nearly one thousand men in four days; none had been killed but certainly incapacitated for the Order to take care of. He knew she was here somewhere, fighting because she had been forbidden to and he was determined to find and protect her, even if he had to do it from a distance so she never knew. On his fifth day, though, Draco met his biggest challenge in his pursuit of the elusive Ginny Weasley – Lucius Malfoy. The whole world seemed to disappear as father and son battled it out with each other._

_In a typical situation Malfoy Senior would have killed the treacherous wretch before him but when it came down to it he was the boy's father, he couldn't kill him. At least not yet. First he would make him suffer like he never had before._

_"Why haven't you done it yet, father? The Dark Lord will not be impressed to learn you have failed to kill the traitor." Draco taunted the aging man before him._

_"The Dark Lord will understand that there are more important things."_

_"Like what?" Draco sneered as he narrowly avoided a blue spark past his cheek._

_Lucius Malfoy, his lips curled into a grotesque smirk, opened his mouth, "Crucio." He declared, the spell hitting Draco square in the stomach._

_The spell spread like strands of a spider web, the pain coursed through his body though the intensity on his stomach did not waver. Draco doubled over, clutching at his stomach as though it were about to rip open at any second. And then, as suddenly as it had come, it ceased. Daring to look at his father, Draco raised his eyes to meet the malicious sneer. It was the same sneer that Draco had, in years past, done his best to avoid. By simply avoiding his father or, on those occasions that required, abiding his rules unquestioningly Draco had kept the number of times he had seen that sneer down to less than 100, the use of the curse no more than 70; each time one had been employed though he was, quite understandably, terrified._

_However, as Draco looked at the aging man before him he wondered why. Being a devoted supporter of maintaining pureblood lineage Lucius Malfoy had that imposing aura about him that made people quake in fear at the sound of his name but as Draco studied his father properly for the first time in his life he realised a few things. Mostly that the great and powerful Lucius Malfoy was not nearly as frightening as he would have people believe. In fact it seemed his years were catching up with him. Age, that one thing bar death a person cannot escape, seeped through him like poison. Arthritis ravaged his bones, old age was beginning to give the proud elder a squint that would steadily get worse and the old man was not as fast as he once had been. Add to that the years of abuse from his master and the bad leg, a result of crossing the Dark Lord one too many times, and Draco was almost certain he could defeat this man he called a father. And so he did what can only be described as an absolutely stupid thing and laughed in the older man's face._

_"You find it amusing son?" Lucius drawled making Draco shake his head in disagreement for the words escaped him. "Then what is so funny you insolent little brat?"_

_Again Draco shook his head as he tried to catch his breath, which served to infuriate Lucius further. "Answer me," he growled, shooting another Crucio at his son._

_This time, rather than show signs of suffering from the spell, Draco gritted his teeth and squared his shoulders. Slowly, despite the excruciating pain he was facing, Draco managed to raise himself so that he stood straight-backed to face his father. Lucius, taken by surprise, lowered his wand. This was all Draco needed to recover enough to get his own wand in position._

_"You want to hear what's so funny? You really want to know?"_

_Lucius stared into Draco's eyes, his lip beginning to twist into a sneer again. "I believe that is what I asked you."_

_Amusement flickered across Draco's face. "What's funny is that you still believe you're going to win. You still think that Voldemort will be victor in this bloody war. He's not going to win, Lucius, and even if he did, how long do you think it'll be before he turns on his most trusted of followers?"_

_Lucius' eyes narrowed, "They've made you soft, Draco."_

_"Not soft," Draco argued confidently. "Aware."_

_"Of what?" Lucius questioned._

_He was genuinely intrigued by his son's simple statement. Or rather, he was intrigued by Draco's general unwillingness to explain himself, there is nothing a Malfoy loves more than the sound of his own voice after all. Too busy questioning his son, Lucius failed to notice the quick glance Draco made from his face to his lowered wand arm. He did, however, notice the lack of response from his son._

_"I do not expect to repeat myself boy," Lucius growled dangerously. Again Draco did not answer him but rather took a step towards the elder man. "Answer me!" He roared as his wand arm flew up. Faced with the tip of a very angry Lucius Malfoy's wand in his face Draco did something that to an outsider could only be considered a death wish; he smirked. "Answer me or you'll have more than a cruciatus to deal with."_

_With Lucius' wand arm raised, he let his mid-section exposed; a fact Draco was quick to take advantage of. Before Lucius could even blink Draco's fist connected with Lucius' stomach making the old man stagger backwards a little whilst doubled over in pain. While he wasn't looking, Draco proceeded to smack the base of Lucius' neck causing him to topple forward. Lucius landed sprawled on the gravel-covered path, his wand rolled into the long grass to the side. Dazed and unarmed he was helpless when Draco charmed a rope to bind his arms and legs._

_"You're a fool old man," Draco told his father. "You hold so fast to your pureblood beliefs. Do you really think that all this destruction he's causing is right?"_

_"Right? Compared to whom? Dumbledore and his band of idiots? They're no better than the Dark Lord, Draco. They claim their cause is the right one but they're just as sneaky and underhanded as we are, the only difference is they're killing us rather than the filth that spreads through the magical world."_

_"I am well aware of who kills who, however, you are wrong. They show a compassion greater than anything you ever showed, not that that is hard. You always told me compassion is weak, but compassion is what makes them strong, and lack of it…well look at yourself."_

_"Touching," Lucius remarked sarcastically. "Just warms me to the heart, really. Compassion is a weakness son and they'll use it against you every time."_

_"No," Draco said abruptly. "Compassion is what drives them to help, to help those they have no reason to trust. For all their foolishness and naivety they are more human than the Dark Lord and all you fools. They would never fake a pregnancy on a condemned woman to sway her son, then rape her in front of him, beat her and torture her then kill her and toss her aside as though she were nothing."_

_Draco paused, taking delight in the look of shock on his fathers face. "Yes, I know all about the pregnancy. How could you let them say that of your wife? Allow me to believe that of my own mother?"_

_Lucius' shock turned to a sneer once more. "What was said was true. Just because she was clever enough not to get pregnant doesn't mean she wasn't a whore. Narcissa did entertain male visitors, Draco, and not just from the Order of the bloody Phoenix, several Death Eaters have had their way with her at some point or another and she was very well compensated for it, too. Your mother, if you could call her that, was nothing more than a common whore, a prostitute for sale to the highest bidder."_

_"No," Draco whispered. "You're lying. You're lying."_

_"You don't sound too sure of that," Lucius observed, preying on his sons weakness._

_"I may not have had much of a relationship with either of you but I would trust her integrity over anything that comes out of your mouth every time."_

_"Believe what you will. You're the one deluding yourself."_

_The anger that had been bubbling inside of him for longer than this fight reached boiling point for Draco, greater than anything he had ever experienced before. Resisting the urge to stoop to his father's level and kill the aged man before him, Draco forced himself to turn his back to the man to calm himself. Though he only had his back turned for a few seconds it was enough for the elder Malfoy to practice advanced magic to break his restraints and transfer his neglected wand to his hand. Before any onlooker could blink, had there been any, Lucius stood on his feet with his wand pointed at his son's heart._

_"Drop your wand and turn around. Slowly."_

_Draco froze and stiffly turned around, "I am not leaving myself unarmed," he gritted out. When he faced his father he found himself being greeted with a smile. "What?" He asked, half out of suspicion and half from surprise._

_"You may have disowned me son, but you cannot deny that my teachings have rubbed off on you and that no matter how hard you try, a part of me will always affect the way you live your life."_

_"A very small part," Draco muttered obstinately. "Not enough to affect me in the way you would like."_

_Lucius nodded sombrely before bowing to his son. "If that is the way you would have it…We end this now then."_

_Immediately the two men engaged in a battle more ferocious than before. From simple spells to the most dastardly curses, sparks flew everywhere and it seemed impossible to tell who they were coming from. For half an hour they duelled, the longer it dragged on the more Lucius appeared to suffer, he was wheezing, often gasping for breath, his limp was becoming more prominent and it was evident he was struggling to keep up with the younger man's agile attempts to wear him out. While Lucius tired though, Draco was suffering from the wealth of his fathers' dark arts knowledge, cuts littered his body and o more than one occasion he had found himself fighting off a particularly vicious curse, these too were taking their toll on the young man._

_Lucius shot one more curse at Draco causing him to sink to his knees in agony. Draco looked up at his father and saw the triumph in his eyes._

_"You did well, Lucius, if I am to die then I willingly accept such a fate from you," Draco wisely admitted defeat._

_The two men locked eyes, grey orbs staring into the other; one a hard, steel, the other a soft, molten pool._

_"It didn't have to be this way," Lucius began gently before Draco cut him off._

_"We both know there was no other way, so be done with it."_

_The care that had flickered across Lucius' face quickly vanished and he opened his mouth for the killing curse, maintaining eye contact with Draco who steadfastly held his gaze. The world went silent and then suddenly a deafening roar was heard, as the anticipated "Avada kedavra" was said. The body of Lucius Malfoy fell to a crumpled heap on the floor before him but all Draco could do was watch with a detached interest. That man had been his father only in name and besides, the vision that now stood where the old man once had was more a sight of concern than the dead man._

_Bloody and exhausted, Ginny Weasley barely managed to step over the crumpled heap before staggering forward and collapsing into Draco's arms._

- o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o -

_It is said the Final Battle lasted exactly one year. Whether this true or not is a subject of much debate. The most argued topic is when the individual classes as the start of the war, do they mean the day the Ministry accepted Voldemort had returned, do they believe it is, in fact, the day Voldemort returned that fateful day in the graveyard or do they mean the day everyone became aware of the problem? Then there is the issue of whether they class Voldemort's death the last day of the war, or the day that those last few Death Eaters who refused to give up were finally rounded up and locked away. In any case only those experts who have studied the issue from every angle can show the one year timeline that the Final Battle lasted for and yet, for the most part it is said that the Final Battle lasted exactly one year. For the members of the Order of the Phoenix though, the Final Battle began the day of Harry's speech and ended the day Harry finally killed Voldemort for good, a span of eight months, one week and four days._

_During this time millions perished, muggles and magic, light and dark alike, thousands were injured and thousands more suffered psychological damage beyond repair. No one escaped the war unharmed and no one left unchanged. After she collapsed, Draco had apparated Ginny back to Order headquarters were she had been nursed back to health. She spent the better part of a week in a deep sleep while her internal injuries and surface wounds had been healed. When she awoke and felt strong enough she had made the medi-staff aware of any other ailments she suffered. She had been lucky to make it through relatively unscathed compared to others and banned from going out again. Draco, who had taken a little longer to sort out, still took her out though. The two worked as a rogue duo, returning every night so no one noticed. Both were still sore over the incident in the hallway but, in the face of all that was going on, put their problems aside to help win the war._

_The defeat of Voldemort was a bittersweet victory. Yes, the great evil had been defeated but in the process the great saviour had also been seriously injured. Before he was killed, Voldemort had sent a curse of his own invention at Harry, a cross between the cruciatus and the avada kedavra. It started as pain spreading slowly through his body but, as time went on, began to eat away at him inside. His muscles were eroding, his organs degrading and it was, ever so slowly, killing him. Harry was returned to Order headquarters were, unable to heal him, medi-staff tried to make him as comfortable as possible. They gave him medicine so that he at least could not feel what was happening to him but aside from that there was little else they could do. After defeating the evilest wizard of his time, Harry Potter had mere hours to live. He refused to let anyone know this though. Aside from himself and the medi-staff who treated him the only people to know were his best friends Ron and Hermione and all were sworn to secrecy._

_"Harry? Harry, are you awake?" Ginny's voice drifted to him softly arousing him from his half-conscious state._

_"If you want me to be," he said groggily, reaching for his glasses so he could see the beautiful red-head's sheepish face._

_"You were sleeping, I should leave."_

_"No, I wasn't. Stay, please, I would like you to," he reached for her hand and smiled when she took it._

_She looked nervously at him, "I need to talk to you," she whispered after a moment too long of silence._

_"Go ahead," he urged her._

_"Well, it's about your proposal." Immediately Harry's face darkened, anticipating a 'no' response so she hurried to continue. "I couldn't give you an answer before because the whole war had me so mixed up but I can now. This whole time I've been worried about opening up that part of myself I shut off after the chamber but I realised something these past eight months worrying about you. You already opened it up and if you can open that part of me up then there is no one else as perfect for me, is there? And I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you, as your wife, so yes, Harry, yes, I will marry you."_

_Harry's face lit up though traces of guilt hid in his sparkling emerald eyes. "That's fantastic, Gin, fantast – ah!"_

_"Harry? Harry, are you ok? Harry, answer me!"_

_"Miss," the medic on duty urged her. "Miss, you must move, we have to transport him to St. Mungo's. There is nothing more we can do for him here."_

_"Nothing more you can do…?" Ginny trailed off softly as more medics rushed into the room, pushing her aside in their haste to get Harry out of the room._

_Everything else happened in a daze for poor Ginny but three hours later she found herself in a St. Mungo's waiting room while a doctor explained that her fiancé was being eaten from the inside and there was nothing anyone could do. More pain relief spells had been cast but that was all anyone could do for him. And did she understand that? He asked her, it all sounded like something out of a bad daytime soap opera but yes, she understood. She nodded up at him numbly. Could she see him? Her and the other members of the Weasley family, obviously, being his fiancée did not make her special enough to be allowed separate visits. No, they would all stick together just like they always had and if she wanted some private time alone then tough, she would have to wait._

_She followed her family to his room, not really taking much in. Her family were gracious enough to allow her to go in first. On her way in though she bumped into a pale-skinned, platinum blonde. He smiled at her, not a pitying smile like everyone else was giving, a genuine It'll all be okay, I'm here if you need me smile. Did she know this man? She got the sense that she should know him but the name wouldn't come to her and later, when she realised who she thought it was, she scolded herself for being so absurd. After all, the only reason Draco Malfoy would visit his sworn enemy Harry Potter was to make sure he was actually finished off but Harry was positively chipper considering the fact that he could die in the next couple of hours._

_This whole thing was too surreal. She felt disjointed from her body, like an outsider looking in. She was numb on the inside and had no idea what she was meant to be doing so she simply sat and waited for her cues. She hadn't been in the room ten minutes when a Ministry cleric entered._

_"Ready, Gin?" Harry asked, the first time he'd acknowledged her since she'd come in._

_'Ready for what?' she thought but put on a bright grin and nodded, "Of course."_

_"Great, let's get started then." The Ministry cleric said in a bright, perky voice._

_Ginny was halfway through reciting her vows when she realised she was in the process of marrying Harry. Now? Surely she should have realised that? She came to the end of her repetition before she'd even finished her thoughts. 'Too late to turn back now, the hyper thing's talking again'._

_"With these vows you have entered into a contract that can be terminated only through death. Harry and Ginevra Potter, you are now man and wife."_

_The room of Weasley's erupted into choruses of cheers as Harry pulled on Ginny's hand to bring her down to meet his lips._

_"I love you, Ginny," he whispered in her ear._

_She looked at him in complete shock but managed a sincere smile for him, "I love you, too, Harry."_

_Fifteen minutes later Harry Potter slipped peacefully into unconsciousness, a further two minutes and he had departed this world with his wife at his side and his surrogate family surrounding him. The Dark Lord was dead, but so too was the saviour of the Wizarding world._

**_

* * *

_ **

A/N: I sincerely apologise for the delay in getting this up, I know 8 months is a long time to wait for a chapter but I was settling into uni, then I had complete writers block with the scene between Lucius and Draco. I was really trying to make it flow and seem realistic, I'm still not convinced but I can't put it off any longer. For the record this chapter is finally getting finished at 3.35 in the morning after watching High School Musical a few too many times, damn DVDs and my laziness to get up and change the disc!

**Anyway, I hope I've done the chapter justice and it was worth the wait. If I still have any readers left (and I hope I do) then please, let me know what you think and if you're a new reader I still want to hear your opinion. Not much left now and I promise the wait won't be as long next time.**

**Rae  
xx**


	12. Planning Problems

Two months. What in Merlin's name had made her think she could plan this wedding in two months? There was a week to go and she was still facing many problems. The reception venue was was what she wanted but the staff were not. They were grumpy, unhelpful and uncooperative; every time she told them what she wanted they acted as though it were a major inconvenience to make it happen. On several occasions they had outright refused her requests. If it hadn't been for the fact that the venue was the best available at such short notice she would have cancelled it right there and then. So instead she was having to put up with it and compromise on what she wanted to make her big day special.

Her next problem was the cake; as soon as the date had been confirmed she had been in touch with Madame Parillian of Parillian's Perfect Pastries. Madame Parillian had heard what she wanted and agreed that, although it was short notice, she would have the cake ready to Ginny's exact specifications. The cake, Ginny had thought happily, was well on it's on way to being the first perfect thing about her day. Now, with a week to go, it was just one of the many things going wrong with her big day. Up until two weeks previously Ginny had been in constant contact with Madame Parillian, keeping up-to-date with the progress, discussing the best colours for decoration. Then, all of a sudden, communication had stopped. Letters returned by owl undelivered, the floo connection had been shut off and three days ago when Ginny had visited the shop to get some answers she had found it abandoned, boarded up and a sign painted across announcing it to be "closed". And today? An article in _The Daily Prophet_explaining how three other bride-to-be's had been in touch after they had ordered and paid for their wedding cakes from Madame Parillian only to have her disappear off the face of the planet with their money. The article, which had tried to investigate Madame Parillian's background a little more, claimed that this wasn't the first time, she had struck in towns and cities across the country using different names and rouses to advertise her service only to take the money and run. And so here was Ginny, so close to her wedding and no cake in sight and no money left to pay for even a rushed last minute one. She was beginning to think this wedding was doomed.

The problem of her dress was not a major one. Ginny had found several nice dresses, she'd even found a few lovely ones, she just hadn't found The Dress. The dress that she was meant to fall in love with instantly. The dress that was meant to fit her perfectly. The dress that would emphasise her curves in just the right way and bring out the sparkle in her eyes and draw attention to her beautiful smile rather than her flaming hair. The other dresses...they were okay and she was slowly resigning herself to the fact that she was going to have to settle for one since time was not on her side but she was still holding out hope that the right dress was just going to appear in front her.

The final problem was more of a concern. She had asked Draco to marry her, to perform the service and unite her and Dean in matrimony. He had tried to say no but she hadn't let him and in the end she had left without an answer and now she didn't know if he was going to or not. Really she could solve this one so simply. She could just go to his house and ask him but she was being awfully stubborn about this, afterall she had asked him once; if nothing else it was simply polite for him to give her a definitive answer. But they had not been in touch for nine weeks now and she did not want to be the first to break that silence.

Is he deliberately being ignorant?

She wondered. _Or is he still sulking because I wouldn't stay and get whatever it is that he had for me?_

She let out a heavy sigh. If she wanted to know the answer she was going to have to be the grown up and be the first to go and see him. She knew that. Merlin, she hated growing up.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Ginny arrived at Malstone Manor at around 7.30 the next evening. Once again she had flooed there and once again she came out into Draco's bedroom only this time it wasn't empty. She found Draco hunched over a table asleep, a quill held loosely in one hand, an upturned glass in the other. Under his head was a piece of parchment with lots of scribblings on, beside that a glass of firewhiskey blue, a recent addition to the firewhiskey family that was triple the normal strength. The bottle was at least two-thirds empty. Ginny hesitated for a moment, torn between leaving and waking him up in some vicious manner. In the end she opted for a third choice; waiting patiently for him to wake up. After ten minutes she gave up with this decision, she wasn't patient and watching Malfoy snore his drunken stupor away was not how she had planned to spend her evening.

And that is how she found herself gently tugging the parchment from its tight grip under Malfoy's head. From the first fifth of the parchment she could tell it was a letter, curiously though the letter was addressed to her. She had just read _Dear Ginny, I know that you don't want to hear from me right now and I completely understand that but I couldn't let you marry that idiot without, _when Draco's hand shot up and wrapped around her wrist. It wasn't a particularly tight grip, nor was it loose enough that she could remove her arm from his hand, it was just a warning grip to alert her that he was awake. She jumped slightly at the suddenness of it and let out a small shriek.

"Draco," she gasped breathlessly.

Draco looked up at her with weary bloodshot eyes, "Ginny? What are you doing here?" His words were slightly slurred and he had a fine coating of stubble covering his chin and cheeks.

"I came to see you but this probably isn't the best time."

Shakily he rose to his feet. "No, just...just wait a minute."

He stumbled out of the room and across the hall to the bathroom. He shut the door to and Ginny could hear running water. When he re-emerged Draco looked much more presentable. He had washed and cleaned his hair, the stubble was gone and he could hold himself upright without swaying. When he opened his mouth his words were back to their sharp, concise precision.

"I'm sorry you saw me that way," he sounded almost ashamed.

"It's fine," Ginny told him with a small shake of the head. "I just came to tell you that you can forget about marrying us. I asked Hermione and she was so excited, exactly how I wanted you to act actually."

"Gin..." he said softly, his grey eyes looking even duller than normal.

"It doesn't matter. I just wanted to tell you so you wouldn't think I still needed you."

"Gin..."

"Shut up!" She could feel her face getting hotter with irritation. "Just shut up. I needed you Draco. I needed you and you weren't there. Of all the times you've been there when I didn't want you and just once I ask you to do something for me and you can't do it. What is that? You can do things for a dead guy but not for me? After all we've been through I really thought we were friends. So stupid."

"Gin..." he tried for a third time.

"Do I sound like I'm finished?" She questioned rhetorically, her face almost matching her hair. "Everything about this wedding is going wrong. The venue staff are the most unhelpful people in the world, my dress is okay but definitely not what I wanted and the cake...I'm not even having a cake because the baker ran off with the money instead.

"I know that we haven't talked since I asked you to do the service but I honestly thought you were going to come to me and tell me you'd do it but here we are, six days to go and instead of making my dreams come true you're getting drunk alone and passing out." Wearily she took the seat Draco had been sat in not twenty minutes before.

Draco stood with his arms crossed leaning against the door frame. He gave it a few minutes to make sure she was definitely finished before he spoke.

"Can I speak now?" Though she was looking at the floor Draco saw her move her head slightly, which he took to be her sign of approval.

"Good, now listen up. I tried to tell you that I couldn't marry you, you cut me off. I tried to stop you leaving so that I could give you something and try to talk to you, you cut me off and left anyway. So no, I didn't come and tell you because I knew that you wouldn't accept that answer. And while we're talking about this, I have one more thing to say."

Ginny, the redness subsiding slightly, looked at him with a cool face and raised eyebrow, a look she had clearly picked up from the man infront of her.

"You are marrying Dean Thomas; he's the man who is meant to make your dreams come true, not me."

"I.." Ginny faltered a little. "That's not what I meant. Dean makes me very happy. I meant that it was always a dream of mine to be married by my...well, by my best friend."

"And is that what I am?" Draco asked her, his voice void of all emotion.

Ginny looked down at her feet once more then boldly lifted her head to meet Draco's eyes. "Once or maybe not, I don't know. It doesn't matter now anyway. Whatever friendship was going on between us is over now."

"Do you really believe that?"

Ginny frowned, what was that she could see in his eyes? Was it disappointment?

"I don't want to but don't you agree? We've reached the end Draco. We can't continue pretending to be friends if the only reason we spend time together is because of a promise you made to Harry on his deathbed seven years ago."

"What if there were more to it than that?" Draco asked her softly.

"Is there?" There was almost a hint of desperation in her voice.

Draco lowered his head but remained silent.

Ginny smiled a sad smile to herself. "See Coco, we can't keep trying to force something if it's not there."

He looked into her eyes and for a moment she could have sworn she saw heartbreak and then, it was gone. Still he didn't say anything.

"I'm going to go now, I might see you around. But Draco? I'm releasing you from any obligation that Harry put you under. You don't have to be around me any more."

Ginny stood from her seat and made a move towards the fireplace. As Ginny's hand delved into her bag to retrieve the pouch in which she had brought her own floo powder, Draco moved away from the door frame and headed towards Ginny. Ginny opened the pouch she had brought out of her bag and was on her way to grabbing a pinch of the silvery powder when Draco placed a loose hand on her upper arm to stop her. She tried to shrug him off but his grip tightened, causing her to turn to him instead. She was just millimetres from his face.

"Don't go," Draco's cool grey eyes looked into her bright brown ones, pleading her to listen to him.

"Why not?" She shot back. She lowered her eyes, refusing to look into his.

"I...I don't want you to leave."

"Why not?" Still she refused to look into his eyes so she focused her attention on his chest.

"I..." Draco paused as though trying to think of something to say. "I need to give you something, remember?"

Ginny frowned. "That's it? Owl it to me, I have to go."

"No, wait."

"I am not going to wait, I need to get home to my fiancé. Remember him?"

Ginny shook her arm once more, this time Draco did let go. She turned back to the fireplace and threw the floo powder into the flames. Once the powder had worked the flames to the bright emerald green colour she needed and she had spoken her destination (31B Heron Street) Ginny moved to step into the flames. One step away she paused and turned back to Draco. He was watching her, silent, an indescribable look across his features.

"I'll try not to see you around Malfoy," and with that she stepped into the flames and felt the familiar tug as she began her journey across the floo network to home. She missed the look of utter devastation that crossed Draco's face.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

About an hour after Ginny got home so too did Dean. She was sat at the table, paper surrounding her with notes and figures scrawled across them all. So caught up in what she was doing, she didn't even notice when Dean spoke to her.

"Ginny, are you listening?" The voice permeated her thoughts when a hand waved infront of her face, disturbing her from her work.

"Huh? What?" She looked up at him with confused, blurry eyes.

"I asked you what you were doing."

"Oh. I'm trying to work out what still needs sorting for Saturday and how much money we have left to pay for it all."

"And how's that going?" Dean asked distractedly as he took off his shoes and coat.

"Terribly; we have no money left, which is fine because the reception people are refusing to do anything else now anyway but we can't pay anyone for a cake. I was going to ask mum to make one but we can't afford to give her anything for it." She leant back and let out a weary sigh.

Dean moved behind her and started massaging her shoulders, she leant back into it and gave a little moan of pleasure. He bent low and kissed her just below her ear. "I am sure the reception will be wonderful and everyone will have a good time even if the decorations aren't exactly what you wanted."

"Hmm," she murmured as he continued to massage her shoulders.

"And I know that your mum would make you that cake without wanting any money or payment. She would be happy to do it."

"Yeah but she shouldn't have to put herself out."

"She will be happy to do it," Dean repeated, running kisses across the length of her tilted neck, finishing at her ear where he proceeded to suckle on her ear lobe.

Ginny moaned again. "Right," she turned round to kiss him. "Have you eaten?" She asked him between kisses.

"Yep, I grabbed something in work. I'm ready for dessert though..."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Ginny woke with a start that night. Half asleep she lay there for a few minutes, wondering what it was that had woken her. She wasn't fearful, so it couldn't have been a bad dream. Dean was sleeping peacefully, so it couldn't have been him moving around. She wasn't thirsty or in need of the toilet so she doubted it was that. There were no noises coming from outside except for, that must have been it, there was a light tapping at the window. Dean wouldn't wake from it because he was such a heavy sleeper but for Ginny, who often woke at slight noises, it was enough to rip her from her fitful sleep. She grabbed her t-shirt from the floor and slipped it on before creeping her way to the window to discover the source of the noise.

Carefully peeling the curtain open a crack she gasped at the sight before her. Flapping on the other side of the glass at nearly fifty centimetres tall was one of the smallest eagles Ginny had ever seen. Held between it's talons was a small parcel on string. Ginny opened the window to allow the bird entry. It rushed by her head and settled on top of the chest-of-drawers. By the light of a nearby street light she could see that it was a pale grey colour with a dark grey head, the eagle ruffled it's feathers and stretched out it's wings, these too were dark grey in colour.

"Would you like a drink?" Ginny whispered to the majestic bird who flicked its head in answer.

She went off to get a bowl of water and the bird followed. She set the bowl in front of it and waited patiently while it drank hungrily. Once it had finished she held her hand out cautiously, in response the eagle held out it's leg so that she could pick up the parcel. She gave the eagle a quick stroke after untying the parcel and, surprising her, it rubbed it's head contentedly against her arm before ruffling it's feathers once more and taking flight towards the bedroom. Sure that it would negotiate it's own way out of the flat Ginny left it to leave as she sat at the table and turned the parcel round in her hands a few times. She glanced at the clock on the wall, 3.20, who would be sending her parcels at 3 in the morning? Only one way to find out.

She unwrapped the parcel to find two things. The first was a small box about seven centimetres squared, the other was an envelope with her name carefully etched across it. She opened the envelope first.

_Dear Ginny, _

_I know that you don't want to hear from me right now and I completely understand that but I couldn't let you marry that idiot without sharing this with you first. You infuriate me. Absolutely, 100%, everything-you-say-and-do-drives-me-up-the-wall, infuriate me but these last few months having you back in my life have been the best since I don't know when. I know you think that I don't want you in my life any more but the truth is I'm not sure if I even have a life when you're not in it. And if Dean Thomas is really what makes you happy then fine, marry him. Spend your life with him and have his kids and live a happy life together and I will leave you to it but Ginny, please, if you have even a fraction of doubt, a fraction of feeling for me, then please, please, don't go ahead with it.  
I'll stay out of your life but I'll always be here for you._

_Draco_

Ginny was breathing hard by the end of the letter. How dare he? How dare he try and turn her against Dean? And who did he think he was to tell her that she was the best thing in his life? To try and make her feel guilty for shutting herself out of it? Well it wasn't going to work, no chance. Horrible, sneaky, deceitful...Malfoy! If she never saw him again it would be too soon. Still, feeling the way she did, that didn't stop her from opening the square box that had been the bulk of her parcel. She gave a small intake of breath at what she saw. Inside was a simple silver chain with a solid silver silver star attached. She picked it up breathlessly. How dare he know her that well? She gave the star a little rub and felt indentations on the under side. She turned it over and read the inscription.

_The choice is yours, Ginny. I'll always be here for you. Draco x_

Small tears escaped her eyes. How dare he?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Finally things started coming together for the wedding. She had accepted that there was nothing more she could do about the reception venue. She wasn't happy about it but really what more could she do at this late stage? Maybe it wouldn't be perfect but as long as everyone enjoyed themselves then she couldn't really ask for any more. Her mum, thank Merlin, was more than happy to bake the cake. In fact she had scolded Ginny more than once for not asking her to begin with. Ginny's protests that she had not wanted to disturb her mother had been met with a "Nonsense" each time, causing Ginny to give up in the end and accept the admonishments. Hermione had, thankfully, agreed to perform the ceremony. When Ginny had told Draco about Hermione's reaction there was a slight exaggeration due to the fact that she hadn't actually asked her at that point. Luckily when she did ask her the very next day Hermione had jumped and squealed and reacted in much the way Ginny had hoped she would. Another thing that she could cross off the list.

The matter of the dress was not as easily resolved. Another two days of trawling boutique after boutique and she still couldn't find The Dress. Finally, with three days to go she settled on a dress that was perfectly nice. A shimmering white Grecian-style one shoulder dress with a diamanté strip where the strap met the body of the dress. A three inch panel below the bust was adorned with clear beads and sequins individually hand sewn in flowery patterns with a sparkling silver thread giving the impression that it was much more sparkly than it actually was. There was a subtle hint of lemon behind each flower shape adding a touch of colour. She had debated for some time over whether or not to get the dress before finally deciding that this was the best she would find on such short notice. It was lovely really, and she was happy with it, she was just convinced that it wasn't entirely what she wanted.

She took the dress straight the Burrow before apparating to Dean's workplace. As she neared his office she saw the door open and a mousey brunette step out, a beaming grin across her face.

"Ella?" Ginny asked in surprise as she got closer. "What are you doing here?"

Ella jumped, startled from her thoughts. "Gin, oh hey," Ella cast a nervous glance around. "How's it going? How is the wedding coming together?"

"Good," Ginny smiled happily. "I finally got my dress so I thought I'd let Dean treat me to lunch and make sure he had his suit."

"Great! I can't wait to see it."

"Well, not long now," Ginny reminded her in a singsong voice. "So, what are you doing here?" She asked again.

"Oh, I was just asking Dean for ideas on what to get Charlie for his birthday. I want to get him a day experience rather than another little trinket."

"That's a nice idea," Ginny agreed. "How about a tour of the Chudley Cannons stadium? He'd love that."

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Well, I have to go so I'll see you in a couple of days."

"Ok," Ginny leant in and gave Ella a hug. "See you soon."

They said their goodbyes and Ginny went into the office. She cast a quick glance at Dean's secretary. Dean had only hired her a week previously and this was the first chance Ginny had got to see her.

"Hi, I'm Ginny," she introduced herself.

"Well, hi!" The woman before her stood up and headed towards Ginny.

She was tall, young and blonde. As if that wasn't bad enough she was wearing a short skirt, showing off her perfectly toned and tanned legs and the top button of her blouse was open, drawing attention to the fact that the buttons she had managed to fasten were strained to their fullest capacity. Inwardly Ginny was seething.

The secretary held out a hand, "Hi, I'm Zoe. Can I help you?"

"Yeah...I'm Dean's fiancée." Ginny answered stonily.

Zoe's smile faltered slightly. "Really? He never mentioned anything."

"I bet," Ginny muttered. "Can I go in?"

"Sure," Zoe smiled warmly at her.

Ginny stormed into Dean's office slamming the door behind her. Dean looked up at her in surprise.

"Gin! What are you doing here?" he shifted a little in his seat but didn't stand to greet her.

"I thought you might like to take me out to lunch," Ginny answered coldly. "I met Zoe," she motioned her head backwards to the outer office.

"Yeah, she's very efficient."

Ginny couldn't fail to notice the dopey grin on Dean's face and her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I bet she is."

Dean looked confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Do you think I'm stupid? Did you really think I'd see your young, pretty, _blonde_ receptionist and be happy about her? Really Dean, did you think that would be okay?"

Dean sighed heavily. "Don't you trust me?"

"Trust you?" Ginny's eyes widened incredulously. "I found you in bed with your last leggy blonde secretary and then you go and hire another? Never mind do I trust you, can you give me one reason why I should?"

"Are you serious?" Dean hissed back in response. "Are you going to come in here and challenge every secretary I have for the rest of time because of one indiscretion? Are you really that insecure?"

Before she could stop herself Ginny's hand had shot out and landed across Dean's face with a resounding _smack. _She gasped, half horrified, half surprised.

"Oh Merlin! Dean are you okay? I'm so so sorry."

Dean was rubbing at his cheek stunned. "You slapped me."

"I know, I don't know what happened," she lifted her hand to his, trying to pull it away so that she could get a look. "Are you okay?"

He gave her the control over his hand that she had been seeking. She lowered his hand and inspected before raising her gaze to his face as a whole. He was smiling.

"Why are you smiling?" She asked in confusion.

"Because for a girl with so many brothers you have a pretty crap slap!" He took her hand and sat her on the couch in the corner of the room. "Gin, look at me," he lifted her face so that her eyes would meet his.

"Gin, I'm sorry. I didn't think about how this might bother you. I promise you though that I am not sleeping with her, nor do I plan to but if you want me to fire her then I will."

Ginny shook her head; the movement was slight, barely noticeable unless you were actually looking. Fortunately Dean was.

"No?" He asked to clarify.

"No, don't fire her. I'm just being silly."

"Yes, you are," he agreed before kissing her lightly on the nose. "But while we're on the subject..."

"Hmm?" She was frowning slightly, getting lost in her thoughts.

"You have to stop bringing up the past. I know I did wrong, I've apologised, we're moving on. You have to, too."

"You're right," it was her time to agree. "I'll try to do better."

"Good." He stood up and held out his hand to help her up. "Now you mentioned lunch?"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The next few days passed smoothly after that. For Ginny it was as if every worry and frustration that had built up over the last two months had caused her to blow up at that one moment. Something as small and petty as a pretty new secretary had set off the tiniest shred of fear she had and escalated into a bigger problem. The fight that had ensued was like a cleanse for her soul; she felt so much calmer now. Yes, she was ashamed that she had reacted the way she had, ashamed that she had slapped Dean but calmer none the less.

Still there was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind, something she couldn't quite place. She thought that it was probably a tiny remaining sliver of mistrust over Dean's fidelity and she wondered if she would ever be able to fully get over it. The longer she thought about it, the harder it became to see a future that wasn't plagued with suspicion and mistrust. Determined that this would not be her future she pushed the thoughts deep into the furthest part of her mind. This was the place where all her fears, confusions and worries lived. Everything from her fear of bees to her experiences with Tom Riddle to worrying about work projects to her confusion over Draco; it all lived here. Away from the forefront of her mind where it couldn't bother her and now mistrust in her fiancé was being placed there, too.

And anyway, who was to say that she didn't trust Dean? Yes, okay, there were niggling doubts but she had promised that she would try harder to not let them rule her behaviour and until a situation arose then how would she know whether she could trust him again? Maybe it wasn't even mistrust that was bothering her. It wasn't uncommon for brides to get pre-wedding jitters. Yeah, that must be it. Her stupid ever-active mind was just over analysing and she was adding two and two and making five.

"Hey, Curls, I'm talking to you!" Hermione shouted above the pounding music, pulling Ginny from her thoughts.

Surprised she went for the default answer that always followed the nickname.

"Mi, don't call me that," she whined back, a scowl crossing her features.

Hermione laughed, the effects of the alcohol showing through in how loud she was laughing. Ginny couldn't help but scowl at her friend's enthusiasm.

"What's up with you?" the excited voice came once more. "You're supposed to be happy," she slurred. "You're getting married in the mooorning."

"Yeah," the reminder taking Ginny back to her previous thoughts.

"What's wrong Curls?" Instantly Hermione straightened up and tried to be serious to offer support to her best friend.

While it wasn't convincing Ginny did at least appreciate the effort but she had had enough and wanted nothing more than to go home and get a good night's sleep. She shrugged as she stood and reached for her coat.

"I don't know, Mi. Maybe I'm just tired; I'm going to go home before I get too wrecked." Ginny plastered a smile on her face and did her best to inject a happier tone into her voice. "Don't want me looking half-dead on my photos now, do we? See you first thing."

With a small laugh Ginny finished her drink, hugged and thanked all her friends and disappeared off to the club bathroom so that she could disapparate home.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**A/N: TADA! Nearly 5 years later and we finally have a chapter! But it is 10 pages long, that's 2 pages a year...poor I know. If I still have followers to this story then I hope you've enjoyed it and if you're just discovering it then I hope you'll stay to finish the journey. I am not going to promise that the final chapter will be ready any time soon, or that any of my other stories wil****l be done soon either, but I will promise that you will not have to wait another 5 years for the next chapter.**

**Also, in my excitement at finally finishing I have not checked for spelling/punctuation errors, nor have I had a beta check it over. I apologise for any glaring errors or factual inconsistencies.**

**Rae x**


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